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A bittersweet account of living initially unknowingly with Asperger's syndrome. A diagnosis at fifty-five causes author of humour books Tom Cutler to look back on the aspects of his experience before which were suddenly explained, from moments of accidental rudeness to highly specific areas of interest.
About the author
Tom Cutler is a bestselling author of humour books, including the Amazon number-one blockbuster 211 Things a Bright Boy Can Do. His titles have been translated into several languages. In 2016 he was identified as being on the autism spectrum. This, he says, was the happiest day of his life.
Summary
A wonderfully bittersweet, funnystrange account of living unwittingly with Asperger’s syndrome.
It is only after a crack-up, at the age of 55, that Tom Cutler gets the diagnosis that allows him to make sense of everything that’s come before, including his weird obsessions with road-sign design, magic tricks, spinning tops, and Sherlock Holmes. The final realisation that he has Asperger’s allows a light to dawn on the riddles of his life: his accidental rudeness, maladroitness, Pan Am smile, and other social impediments. But, like many with Asperger’s, Tom possesses great facility with words, and this shines through this exceptionally warm, bright, and moving memoir, which is alternately strikingly revealing, laugh-out-loud funny, and achingly sad.
Tom explores his eccentric behaviour from boyhood to manhood, examines the role of autism in his strange family, and investigates the scientific explanations for the condition. He recounts his anxiety and bewilderment in social situations, his sensory overload, his strange way of dressing, and his particular trouble with girls. He shares his autistic adventures in offices, toyshops, backstage in theatres, and in book and magazine publishing houses, as well as on — or more often off — roads.
Additional text
Praise for A Gentleman's Bedside Book:
‘The perfect stocking filler for the man who has everything.’
