The Boy in the Moon: A Father's Journey to Understand His Extraordinary Son by Ian Brown is a nonfiction book about Ian’s son, Walker. Walker has cardiofaciocutaneous (CFC) syndrome, an extremely rare genetic mutation. One of only about 300 people worldwide with this diagnosis, he is unable to speak, compulsively harms himself, and will need constant care for the rest of his life.
I liked that this book seemed honest. Ian didn’t wax poetic about how Walker was an angel or had a higher purpose—in fact, he was suspicious of people like that. He didn’t shy away from the hard questions and was honest about how brutally tiring it was to take care of his son. It questioned the roles of responsibility, from the role of society, the government, and the parents.
The first half of the book was chronological and flowed quite fast. The material was both interesting and a little heartbreaking. The second half was a little bit more difficult to get through. It skipped around and ideas weren’t fully articulated or explained. While self-reflection can be fascinating, Brown tended to ramble.
Three stars
Widget by Css Reflex | TutZone
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for joining our discussion of this book!