Far From the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity

Written by:
Andrew Solomon
Narrated by:
Andrew Solomon

Unabridged Audiobook

Ratings
Book
18
Narrator
8
Release Date
November 2012
Duration
40 hours 37 minutes
Summary
Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, a Books for a Better Life Award, and one of The New York Times Book Review’s Ten Best Books of 2012, this masterpiece by the National Book Award–winning author of The Noonday Demon features stories of parents who not only learn to deal with their exceptional children, but also find profound meaning in doing so—“a brave, beautiful book that will expand your humanity” (People).

Solomon’s startling proposition in Far from the Tree is that being exceptional is at the core of the human condition—that difference is what unites us. He writes about families coping with deafness, dwarfism, Down syndrome, autism, schizophrenia, or multiple severe disabilities; with children who are prodigies, who are conceived in rape, who become criminals, who are transgender. While each of these characteristics is potentially isolating, the experience of difference within families is universal, and Solomon documents triumphs of love over prejudice in every chapter.

All parenting turns on a crucial question: to what extent should parents accept their children for who they are, and to what extent they should help them become their best selves. Drawing on ten years of research and interviews with more than three hundred families, Solomon mines the eloquence of ordinary people facing extreme challenges.

Elegantly reported by a spectacularly original and compassionate thinker, Far from the Tree explores how people who love each other must struggle to accept each other—a theme in every family’s life.
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Reviews
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Andrea J

This book has changed me, in a permanent and profound way. I will never be the same, but, in fact, I will be a better person for having read/heard this book. Andrew Solomon, is a truly remarkable human being who is able to talk about the most painful and difficult topics with a lens of compassion that is unequaled. It is my feeling the Mr. Solomon will set the standard for how we speak of these subjects for decades to come. I recommend this book to absolutely every living, breathing human on earth today. Further, he narrates his own book and it is his own voice telling these amazing stories. Thank you, Andrew Solomon for your gift to humanity now and into the future.

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Jenifer Gaukler

Phenomenal book. Andrew Solomon is a thoughtful and compassionate author. His narration is fantastic.

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