Book reviews 3 + 4
book 3
Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
Book on Amazonhttp://www.amazon.com/Writing-Down-Bones-Freeing-Writer/dp/0877733759
My Rating: 3 of 5 stars
A zen-like approach to writing, as outlined by Natalie Goldberg. Part instruction manual, part memoir. An interesting read, but nothing I hadn't heard before - might be good advice to a beginning, especially a timid new writer. There were a few exercises presented, which I wrote down for future use - but definitely something to take out of the library as opposed to buy, because you'll only really get one read out of it- and if you've been writing a while, it won't tell you anything you don't already know.
book 4
Send in the Idiots - stories from the other side of autism - by Kamaran Nazeer
Book on Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/Send-Idiots-Stories-Other-Autism/dp/1582346194
My Rating: 4 of 5 stars
From the ages of 4-7, the author was in a school program for autistic children. As an adult, he tracks down the other children from his class and sees where their lives have taken them. One is a professional speech writer. One is a scientist, who speaks through his puppets. One is a bike messenger boy. One committed suicide. He also talks to the teachers involved with the program too. Along the way you get a lot of insight into the autistic mind, and into the lives of people who fall somewhere on the spectrum. I'd recommend this book to anyone who would like to learn more about autism, from the perspective of adults who live with it.
Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
Book on Amazonhttp://www.amazon.com/Writing-Down-Bones-Freeing-Writer/dp/0877733759
My Rating: 3 of 5 stars
A zen-like approach to writing, as outlined by Natalie Goldberg. Part instruction manual, part memoir. An interesting read, but nothing I hadn't heard before - might be good advice to a beginning, especially a timid new writer. There were a few exercises presented, which I wrote down for future use - but definitely something to take out of the library as opposed to buy, because you'll only really get one read out of it- and if you've been writing a while, it won't tell you anything you don't already know.
book 4
Send in the Idiots - stories from the other side of autism - by Kamaran Nazeer
Book on Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/Send-Idiots-Stories-Other-Autism/dp/1582346194
My Rating: 4 of 5 stars
From the ages of 4-7, the author was in a school program for autistic children. As an adult, he tracks down the other children from his class and sees where their lives have taken them. One is a professional speech writer. One is a scientist, who speaks through his puppets. One is a bike messenger boy. One committed suicide. He also talks to the teachers involved with the program too. Along the way you get a lot of insight into the autistic mind, and into the lives of people who fall somewhere on the spectrum. I'd recommend this book to anyone who would like to learn more about autism, from the perspective of adults who live with it.