Born On A Blue Day: A Memoir by Daniel Tammet

What an interesting read this was. I read this book for the nonfiction yahoo group that I belong to and it was a worthwhile read. Daniel is an autistic savant which he equates to being a more highly functioning "rain man" (the Dustin Hoffman movie) Basically, he is really smart in certain areas. For instance, he loves numbers. Every number is a visual experience for him that he pictures in his head. He says repeatedly that numbers are his friends. In fact, for a fundraiser (I believe) he learned over 22,000 numbers of pi. (*Remember that pi is an infinite number -something that some of us...meaning me....might not have remembered :P) And he didn't miss a single number. How amazing is that?!?!!!
This memoir takes us from when Daniel was a baby to his present day life. I found it very interesting to see how he progressed and grew as an individual. He is very up front with the things socially that he is not good at-and also gives facts that relate to Aspergers as to why many individuals with this condition are not good at certain situations. I hope that made sense. Anyways, I'm really glad that I read this book. It was interesting for me and gave me a better sense of what someone that has a disease like this goes through. Just a sidenote: because Daniel is so intelligent some areas are a bit dry. But that's just because he knows so much and he explains it all to you. Others might find those tidbits really fascinating. I recommend this one!
Challenges: In Their Shoes Challenge, A-Z Challenge ("B" Title)
My Rating: 4 out of 5