Payton Living Center was the sixth place in a row Momma had taken me but neither of us knew it was the one where I'd stay forever and ever..
Description:
Todd Aaron has lived in the sprawling Payton Living Center, a "therapeutic community" for over 40 years. He has a form of autism that makes him a loner and occasionally releases"volts" in his head when under stress. Todd suffered an abusive childhood with his father and brother, but now has settled into a quiet life. He is even considered a "Best Boy" at the facility for always doing what he is told, an example in the other patients who live there.
But in Eli Gottlieb's novel, Best Boy, new changes in his peaceful life have made Todd feel the stirrings of dissatisfaction. He is terrified of a new staff member who resembles his father and wants to be his friend. Todd gets a new roommate who constantly harasses him. And then he meets a new female patient who teaches him how to avoid taking his most crushing of meds.
In response to all of these changes, Todd has begun to harbor a secret dream of escape from the Center and somehow get back to his childhood home.
Gottlieb has a simple, quiet writing style that allows readers to understanding the workings of narrator Todd's autistic mind and memories. Todd is a damaged man, but one who continues to question and seek answers to his world and his past, especially those that involve his beloved mother.
This is a powerful, challenging look at the life of an autistic man, a story that is not always pretty . But Todd is a survivor with inspiring strength and unflinching will to succeed against the obstacles he faces, physically and mentally.
Happy reading.
But in Eli Gottlieb's novel, Best Boy, new changes in his peaceful life have made Todd feel the stirrings of dissatisfaction. He is terrified of a new staff member who resembles his father and wants to be his friend. Todd gets a new roommate who constantly harasses him. And then he meets a new female patient who teaches him how to avoid taking his most crushing of meds.
In response to all of these changes, Todd has begun to harbor a secret dream of escape from the Center and somehow get back to his childhood home.
The unhappiness kept getting larger and larger till finally I was so unhappy that it was raining all the time in my head even in sunshine and wherever I looked all I saw were gray dots of water falling sideways across the view. That was how I began to drown.Todd knows how to read and studies the Encyclopedia Britannica ("Mr. B") that his mother gave him, as well as the computer ("Mr. C") for answers about his autism, medications, and other questions. With a roommate from Hell and few other friends, Todd's life is completely solitary as he deals with the Center's rules, his fears and now his new dream escape...until the day he actually sets off on his journey home.
Gottlieb has a simple, quiet writing style that allows readers to understanding the workings of narrator Todd's autistic mind and memories. Todd is a damaged man, but one who continues to question and seek answers to his world and his past, especially those that involve his beloved mother.
This is a powerful, challenging look at the life of an autistic man, a story that is not always pretty . But Todd is a survivor with inspiring strength and unflinching will to succeed against the obstacles he faces, physically and mentally.
Happy reading.
If this book interests you, be sure to check out:
Simsion, Graeme. The Rosie Project
A brilliant but socially inept professor seeks to find the perfect mate by creating a Wife Project questionnaire, but another completely unacceptable woman shows up in his life and leads him into another project to find her unknown father via genes. Very funny as well as enlightening about people with Asperger's Syndrome. (previously reviewed here)
Simon, Rachel. The Story of Beautiful Girl
A deaf man and silent pregnant woman escape from a prison-like hospital for the mentally retarded and, before being she is caught, gives the baby to a stranger with the only words spoken, :Hide her." (previously reviewed here)
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