LOOK ME IN THE EYE My Life With Asperger's

John Elder Robison's memoir of growing up with undiagnosed Asperger's syndrome, high-functioning autism, is a fascinating story of unexpected successes. To add to his troubles, Robison's mother was mentally ill, and his father was an abusive alcoholic. Failing in junior high, Robison was encouraged by his teachers to repair broken audiovisual equipment. His surprising abilities led to inventing rocket-shooting guitars for the band KISS, developing computerized toys, and fixing classic cars. Narrator Mark Deakins's portrayal of Robison is sincere and sensitive. He appropriately underplays the emotional impact of the childhood abuse to match the matter-of-fact tone of the writing and deftly captures Robison's humor, which features quirky names (his wife is "Unit Two" because she's a middle sister) and practical jokes. A.B. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2008]