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Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's | 
 enlarge | Author: John Elder Robison
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy New: $10.17
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Avg. Customer Rating:  144 reviews
Sales Rank: 3185
Media: Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.8
ISBN: 0307396185
Dewey Decimal Number: 920
EAN: 9780307396181
ASIN: 0307396185
Publication Date: September 9, 2008 (In 1 Day)
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Product Description
New York Times Bestseller
“As sweet and funny and sad and true and heartfelt a memoir as one could find.”
—from the foreword by Augusten Burroughs
Ever since he was young, John Robison longed to connect with other people, but by the time he was a teenager, his odd habits—an inclination to blurt out non sequiturs, avoid eye contact, dismantle radios, and dig five-foot holes (and stick his younger brother, Augusten Burroughs, in them)—had earned him the label “social deviant.” It was not until he was forty that he was diagnosed with a form of autism called Asperger’s syndrome. That understanding transformed the way he saw himself—and the world. A born storyteller, Robison has written a moving, darkly funny memoir about a life that has taken him from developing exploding guitars for KISS to building a family of his own. It’s a strange, sly, indelible account—sometimes alien yet always deeply human.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 139 more reviews...
 Look Me In The Eye September 2, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Look Me In The Eye: My Life With Aspergers by John Robison ***1/2
Look Me In The Eye can at times be hard to swallow. While it is interesting to see how the disease effected Robison's life that is as far as the book goes with merit. Being the brother of well known and highly regarded author Augusten Burroughs he had big shoes to fill, and for his first outing he does fine. Also being his brother it is very interesting to see how the two both came out of their childhoods some what normal.
As they are brothers a lot of the stories told here have been told by Burroughs in his work before this. So the reader would hope to get a new perspective on the events and see it from someone else view. Well they are told the same way making the book seem boring at times.
Robison's stories often become very technical (due in part to his disorder), making some of the stories boring. The parts and things he used to build something are not nearly as interesting as what he did with those parts and he doesn't get that. This is also in part to his disorder.
But to see his struggle with his parents on top of his personal demons is fascinating and entertaining as a memoir. To see a man overcome his demons is always uplifting and wonderful to witness. For that Look Me In The Eye is not a total loss.
If you have the patience this is a nice read as well as an eye opening one...no pun intended.
 Humorous Hijinks From an Asperger's Life August 27, 2008
"Look Me in the Eye" by John Elder Robison is a compelling look at Asperger's Syndrome through the life of one who never let his condition slow him down. Robison, the brother of memoirist Augusten Burroughs, is a compelling storyteller and perhaps more interesting than his struggles and discoveries as a person living with Asperger's are his insights into his messed-up childhood, his hjinks as a young man living on his own, his sound engineering work with KISS, and his years in the corporate world. An enjoyable read. Grade: B.
 Look me in the eye, My Life with Aspergers August 24, 2008
Excellent book, good insights into what life is like for an Aspy. Reccomend for all families who are effected by this curve that life throws us.
Not what you expect August 13, 2008
This book is entertaining and well written, but it does not give the information on Asperger's that I was seeking. The author shares more about his upbringing with incompetent parents than the issues associated with having Asperger's. When reading this book it is hard to separate what trials he endured because of Asperger's and what were based on poor parenting.
Different kind of book.. July 29, 2008
Do not read this book and expect to learn all about Asperger's. It is a memoir of the author's life with it. If you are looking for an education on AS, then look to a medical text or web site. Other reviewers are complaining about that aspect, but this is not a textbook. It is an interesting memoir written from the point of view of someone whose point of view is very different and unique from the rest of the world. Other reviewers are also complaining that the book doesn't flow and the writing isn't very colorful. That is true, but it is because of the author's AS. If the editor encouraged the author to change his style then it wouldn't really be written with the outlook of someone with Asperger's Syndrome. The book is unlike most other books because there really is no overall theme, some of the writing is choppy, some parts go too much into description about minute things, but I found this to be interesting because it gave me a glimpse into the mind of someone with AS. The book is not incredibly entertaining, funny, or enthralling, but it is different. Just be prepared for something unusual when reading it. The author's life isn't incredibly out of the ordinary, but the way he sees and does things are. I enjoyed this book, but I can't say that I would read a second book by this author.
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