The Boy In The Moon: A Father's Journey To Understand His Extraordinary Son (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
I read this book sort of by accident -- it was on the New shelf right near the checkout desk at the library and I remembered reading an excerpt in the NYT so I brought it home. These books about other people's trauma always make me feel guilty in two ways: one, that my life is so much easier than theirs, and two, that their trauma makes for interesting reading. I expected to get the "disabled child opens the eyes of everyone around him to a new perspective on what it means to be an able human." This idea did show up regularly throughout the book, but the author did stop short of romanticizing a situation that is in no possible way romantic. My favorite passage was his description of Disneyworld: "Walker keeps reminding me that life does not have a theme. Except at Disneyworld, where if you're going to do something you have to do it within an theme, and preferably on a scooter." But I was distracted by a really unfortunate editing oversight in a passage about improved genetic testing for pregnant women, "especially older ones (or women with older husbands)." Hmmm . . . unmarried women or gay parents don't qualify for the testing? Ian Brown's book appealed to me very much because he is so brutally honest about the experiences, the obstacles, the daily frustrations and joys that come from living with a severely-disabled family member. The stories Brown shares about his son's life mirrors that of my own sibling's-- right down to members from the tight-knit community of doctors, social workers, and organizations that help people like Walker. More broadly, "The Boy in the Moon" provides a valuable antidote view to the hastily applied models of de-institionalization/integration to the disabled community because Brown reminds readers that the world of disability is also a very diverse one-- with no one-size-fits-all solutions.If Goodreads could allow me to give half-stars, I'd actually give this book a 4.5 star rating because some parts of Brown's writing irritated me (e.g., he kept describing his son as 'broken'). That said, I felt this book was well-done because it is a frank, but elegantly-written memoir.
What do You think about The Boy In The Moon: A Father's Journey To Understand His Extraordinary Son (2011)?
An intimate look at parenting a child with severe disabilities and what these children teach us ...
—hessabi
Had to skim through quickly to finish. Really had a hard time sticking with it.
—patel10
I finished this ages ago and realize that it was good but not memorable.
—bookworm2016
Good book however I struggled to stay focus and read through it
—mimi9090
