JoeThe Only Boy in the WorldMichael BlastlandISBN 1861979444ISBN 13 9781861979445January 2007Price £7.99Paperback, 256 pp.Buy this book at amazon.co.ukView quote sheetSubject: Memoir |
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An exceptionally haunting memoir that also shows us what it is to be really human. In a hardware store, Joe sits on a display toilet amidst the throng of customers and wees, smiling serenely. He thumps crying babies. He is amazed when the car he runs in front of actually hits him. Joe is ten and mentally disabled. He’s funny, fascinating and maddening, and this memoir tells his moving story, but also argues that until we know Joe’s life, we can’t understand our own. Through philosophy, psychology and medical research, the author explains how we are mind-readers, how we make sense of other people and how we understand guilt and innocence, and shows that Joe sets our humanity in sharp relief. But in that case, is Joe part of it? The author who asks that outrageous question is Joe’s father. ‘Deeply personal and moving … [Blastland’s] beautifully written book offers us a glimpse of the torments endured by the growing number of children born with their cerebral pathways wrongly wired.’ ‘Joe, the Only Boy in the World is an affecting book. Blastland invokes the ancient African saying that “it takes a whole village to raise a child” and, with this book, he has widened the village to include potentially every reader.’ |
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