A Mind Apart: Travels In A Neurodiverse World - Susanne Antonetta

*Starred Review* Antonetta's galvanizing first book, Body Toxic (2001), marked the emergence of a poetic and frank chronicler of life lived in a polluted world. She now offers a kinetic, impressionistic, and philosophical inquiry into neurodiversity, a term for "people hardwired to think differently from the norm." This is a vital subject for Antonetta, who wryly describes the "circus" she carries in her head because of bipolar disorder. As inventive and full of mischief and deep feeling as Diane Ackerman, as adept at translating experience into life lessons as Anne Lamott, and an excellent adjunct to Oliver Sacks, Antonetta fashions an intriguingly meandering narrative as she describes her atypical neurological experiences, portrays a "many-headed" friend--a man who harbors multiple female personalities--reports on the murder trial of a disturbed teen, wonders about the fate of atypical neurology in a future in which genetic engineering is commonplace, and offers startling theories about the phenomenal increase in autism. Once again, Antonetta alters our perception of ourselves and our place in the biosphere as she makes unexpected connections, articulates provocative observations, and leaves readers pondering a startling question: Is neurodiversity as essential to life as biodiversity? Donna Seaman
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