Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity

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Andrew Solomon s startling proposition in Far from the Tree is that being exceptional is at the core of the human condition that difference is what unites us He writes about families coping with deafness, dwarfism, Down s syndrome, autism, schizophrenia, or multiple severe disabilities with children who are prodigies, who are conceived in rape, who become criminals, who are transgender While each of these characteristics is potentially isolating, the experience of difference within families is universal, and Solomon documents triumphs of love over prejudice in every chapter.All parenting turns on a crucial question to what extent should parents accept their children for who they are, and to what extent they should help them become their best selves Drawing on ten years of research and interviews with than three hundred families, Solomon mines the eloquence of ordinary people facing extreme challenges.Elegantly reported by a spectacularly original and compassionate thinker, Far from the Tree explores how people who love each other must struggle to accept each other a theme in every family s life. Free Read [ Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity ] author [ Andrew Solomon ] – kino-fada.fr With the full disclosure that I used to work for the publisher of Far from the Tree and spent a lot of time helping to bring this book to life, I can say hands down that this is one of the very best and most important works of nonfiction I ve ever read and probably will read for a long time to come Solomon, who won The National Book Award for The Noonday Demon An Atlas of Depression, spent ten years interviewing families that are extraordinary in every sense of the word, but most With the full disclosure that I used to work for the publisher of Far from the Tre...I have been disabled all my life I have cerebral palsy which means that at this point in my life I walk with two canes Though my parents sought medical attention for me, eventually they embraced my paternal grandmother s Christian Science faith I have through the years been considered crippled, handicapped, disabled, differently abled and physically challenged I am who I am both because of and in spite of my parents Andrew Solomon s book is wonderful because he is so open to any I have been disabled all my life I have cerebral palsy which means tha...Mind shifting excellence.https www.ted.com talks andrew_soloIn 1993 Andrew Solomon was assigned by the New York Times to write about Deaf culture Most deaf children are born to hearing parents, and those parents often prioritize teaching them to function in the hearing world, spending years on lipreading and spoken language, precious years that could have been spent learning history, maths...This highly lauded and hefty book is about the experience of having a child outside the norm The author explores homosexuality his own , and the lives of a variety of children who are dwarfs, severely disabled, schizophrenic, deaf, transgendered, criminal and those with Down s Syndrome The author is a psychiatrist I found him to be a man of exceptional kindness and wisdom, who writes with much thoughtfulness about the families he interviewed, and the illness, disabilities or identities he This highly lauded and hefty book is about the experi...I ll be the odd reader out here on Goodreads and admit I did not like this book There were some lovely sentences, some very nice connections established between ideas.but there was a lot of clunk, too.One of the disappointments for me is that the book doesn t so much document how ordinary families have dealt with unexpected horizontal identities in their children as it documents how extraordinary and wealthy families have done so except in the chapters about rape and crime.there, it I ll be the odd reader out here on Goodreads and admit I did not like this book There were some lovely sentences, some very nice connections established between ideas.but there was a lot of clunk, too.One of the disappointments for me is that the book doesn t so much document how ordinary families have dealt with unexpected horizontal identities in their children as it documents how extraordinary and wealthy families have done so except in the chapters about rape and crime.there, it seems the poor could be included, while the non poor must be excluded Except for Dylan Klebold.The book reads as if Solomon recruited families by placing an ad in the back of The Atlantic The poor and working class families I work with face the same challenges as the parents of autistic, intellectually disabled, deaf, etc., children Solomon writes about, but with none of the access to information, services or respite afforded by wealth I hesitate t...When this book originally came out, I thought I didn t need to read it, since I m not especially interested in having children of my own There are not even words to describe how off the mark I was about that Like the book Quiet The Power of Introverts in a World That Can t Stop Talking, which purports to be able introverts but is actuallyabout what humans need to exist happily in the world, this book is ostensibly about children but is really about ...An amazing book about the love it takes to raise extraordinary children Andrew Solomon s 700 page powerhouse Far from the Tree explores the families of kids with stigmatized conditions kids born deaf, with autism, or as prodigies kids who are the progeny of rape, who commit crimes, who are disabled kids who have disabilities, dwarfism, and Down syndrome He delves into the intricacies of each of these issues, including several case studies that he collected after ten years of interviews with An amazing book about the love it takes to raise extraordinary children Andrew Solomon s 700 page powerhouse Far from the Tree explores the families of kids with stigmatized conditions kids born deaf, with autism, or as prodigies kids who are the progeny of rape, who commit crimes, who are disabled kids who have disabilities, dwarfism, and Down syndrome He delves into the intricacies of each of these issues, including several case studies that he collected after ten years of interviews withthan 300 families Solomon displays remarkable research skill in this book, as well as a stunning compassion and care for the diverse humans he writes about.I appreciate this book so much because it focuses on love instead of hate ...This book can be best described as a Piping Hot Mess.this book s topic bites off not onlythan Solomon himself can chew, butthan that guy who s won the Nathan s Famous Forth of July hotdog eating contest for the past six years running could ch...This book has shoved aside books I planned to read for months I really identify with Andrew Solomon s difficulties growing up gay and dyslexic, despite being neither, which is a testament to how broad and powerful the ideas and stories about disability in here are.Most of this was five stars, an incredible piece of reporting, but there were a couple of chapters where I felt the research and analysis dropped in quality, which I think was inevitable, given a tome of this size It s a powerful This book has shoved aside books I planned to read for months I really identify with Andrew Solomon s difficulties growing up gay and dyslexic, despite being neither, which is a testament to how broad and powerful the ideas and stories about disability in ...I m still not sure if this was a great book or a terrible book to read while 38 weeks pregnant I didn t go looking for Far from the Tree, but I came across a copy a few days ago and felt drawn to it Throughout this pregnancy my first I ve felt terrified by the possibility of having a child with a serious intellectual disability It really bothers me that I feel this way, and I was hoping that this book might help me understand why the thought upsets me so much, and even see how I might come I m still not sure if this was a great book or a terrible book to read while 38 weeks pregnant I didn t go looking for Far from the Tree, but I came across a copy a few days ago and felt drawn to it Throughout this pregnancy my first I ve felt terrified by the possibility of having a child with a serious intellectual disability It really bothers me that I feel this way, and I was hoping that this book might help me understand why the thought upsets me so much, and even see how I might come to terms ...

Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity
  • English
  • 27 April 2018
  • Hardcover
  • 962 pages
  • Andrew Solomon
  • Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity