4 posts tagged “non-fiction”
Dear Gabriel is a
memoir of the author (Halfdan Freihow) and his autistic son. Together,
Gabriel and his father (along with his mother, sister Victoria, and dog
Balder) live on the edge a of small Norwegian town, almost north of the
tree line.
Unlike For the Love of Anne and some other nonfiction parent-child stories about autism, this is not the saga of a struggle to overcome the problems of autism.
This book intersperses descriptions of the harsh yet beautiful Norwegian scenery with episodes from the life of father and son. Most of the scenes take place over a few months, although a few flashbacks recount earlier stories, such as when the author and his family first moved from Oslo.
If you are familiar with autism, it will seem that Gabriel is high-functioning. He is able to go to school and seems to communicate a lot verbally. During his treasure-hunting expeditions with his father, playing pirate, it is easy to forget he is autistic. Until the next scene in which he might start screaming inconsolably.
His parents (at least his father - the mother is barely mentioned) is tender, sensitive, and loving. This book could almost be about any tender father-son relationship.
This short book is a quick enjoyable read. I recommend it to anyone interested in autism, to people interested in the non-tourist areas of Norway, and to fathers and sons.
Unlike For the Love of Anne and some other nonfiction parent-child stories about autism, this is not the saga of a struggle to overcome the problems of autism.
This book intersperses descriptions of the harsh yet beautiful Norwegian scenery with episodes from the life of father and son. Most of the scenes take place over a few months, although a few flashbacks recount earlier stories, such as when the author and his family first moved from Oslo.
If you are familiar with autism, it will seem that Gabriel is high-functioning. He is able to go to school and seems to communicate a lot verbally. During his treasure-hunting expeditions with his father, playing pirate, it is easy to forget he is autistic. Until the next scene in which he might start screaming inconsolably.
His parents (at least his father - the mother is barely mentioned) is tender, sensitive, and loving. This book could almost be about any tender father-son relationship.
This short book is a quick enjoyable read. I recommend it to anyone interested in autism, to people interested in the non-tourist areas of Norway, and to fathers and sons.
Check out Start & Run an Art Teaching Business by my friend Tanya Freedman. She ran a successful art teaching business for several years. In her book she shares not only ideas for different types of art teaching businesses, but also entrepreneurial advice that can be so helpful for creative people who haven't thought about the business side of things.
You can find out more about the book, and read an excerpt on her web site.
You can find out more about the book, and read an excerpt on her web site.
I just finished Scott Griffin's My Heart is Africa, the story of his flight to and around Africa in his Cessna. Yes, he actually flew from Canada to Africa in a prop plane.
This book is an entertaining memoir of his experiences. It starts with his flight to Africa. It introduces you to the people he met, briefly covers his work with the non-profit Flying Doctors of Africa (he neither a pilor nor a doctor for them),and recounts his adventures in Africa.
I bought this book after hearing Scott Griffin speak at my library. He claims not to be a writer, but the pacing is easy, and the description marvellous. I felt like I had met the people and seen the landscape.
This book is an entertaining memoir of his experiences. It starts with his flight to Africa. It introduces you to the people he met, briefly covers his work with the non-profit Flying Doctors of Africa (he neither a pilor nor a doctor for them),and recounts his adventures in Africa.
I bought this book after hearing Scott Griffin speak at my library. He claims not to be a writer, but the pacing is easy, and the description marvellous. I felt like I had met the people and seen the landscape.
This weekend, I finished reading Reading Lolita in Tehran. This book was beautiful, poignant, and fascinating. Azar Nafisi was a professor of English literature in Tehran, eventually leaving the universities to teach a private class to a group of women students. This book combines literary analysis with a personal history of Iran through and since the revolution from the perspective of intellectual Iranian women. I strongly recommend this book.
