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Parents, Children and the Search for Identity
Scribner
November 2012
On Sale: November 13, 2012
976 pages
ISBN: 0743236718
EAN: 9780743236713
Kindle: B007EDOLJ2
Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction
From the National Book Award–winning author of The
Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression comes a monumental
new work, a decade in the writing, about family. In Far
from the Tree, Andrew Solomon tells the stories of
parents who not only learn to deal with their exceptional
children but also find profound meaning in doing so.
Solomon’s startling proposition is that diversity is what
unites us all. He writes about families coping with
deafness, dwarfism, Down syndrome, autism, schizophrenia,
multiple severe disabilities, with children who are
prodigies, who are conceived in rape, who become criminals,
who are transgender. While each of these characteristics is
potentially isolating, the experience of difference within
families is universal, as are the triumphs of love Solomon
documents in every chapter. All parenting turns on a
crucial question: to what extent parents should accept their
children for who they are, and to what extent they should
help them become their best selves. Drawing on forty
thousand pages of interview transcripts with more than three
hundred families, Solomon mines the eloquence of ordinary
people facing extreme challenges. Whether considering
prenatal screening for genetic disorders, cochlear implants
for the deaf, or gender reassignment surgery for transgender
people, Solomon narrates a universal struggle toward
compassion. Many families grow closer through caring for a
challenging child; most discover supportive communities of
others similarly affected; some are inspired to become
advocates and activists, celebrating the very conditions
they once feared. Woven into their courageous and affirming
stories is Solomon’s journey to accepting his own identity,
which culminated in his midlife decision, influenced by this
research, to become a parent. Elegantly reported by a
spectacularly original thinker, Far from the Tree
explores themes of generosity, acceptance, and
tolerance—all rooted in the insight that love can transcend
every prejudice. This crucial and revelatory book expands
our definition of what it is to be human.
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