Reader recommendation: Far From the Tree

Far From the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity by Andrew Solomon is a book to admire, learn from, and cherish. Solomon deals with a spectrum of childhood disabilities/differences from the norm: autism, Downs’ Syndrome, deafness, prodigies and others. Because he is a professor and lecturer in an assortment of fields, the book is filled with facts about the syndromes he names. Because he is a parent, the factual material is interspersed with case histories of families with great compassion and understanding. Because he is a writer, his prose is exceptional.