Far from the Tree

Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity

Andrew Solomon

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Hardback

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English

Scribner Book Company
13 November 2012

Age groups: children; Child & developmental psychology; Health & Self-Help; Family & relationships; Advice on parenting

From the National Book Award-winning author of The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression comes a monumental new work, a decade in the writing, about family. In Far from the Tree, Andrew Solomon tells the stories of parents who not only learn to deal with their exceptional children but also find profound meaning in doing so. Solomon's startling proposition is that diversity is what unites us all. He writes about families coping with deafness, dwarfism, Down syndrome, autism, schizophrenia, 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, as are the triumphs of love Solomon documents in every chapter. All parenting turns on a crucial question: to what extent parents should accept their children for who they are, and to what extent they should help them become their best selves. Drawing on forty thousand pages of interview transcripts with more than three hundred families, Solomon mines the eloquence of ordinary people facing extreme challenges. Whether considering prenatal screening for genetic disorders, cochlear implants for the deaf, or gender reassignment surgery for transgender people, Solomon narrates a universal struggle toward compassion. Many families grow closer through caring for a challenging child; most discover supportive communities of others similarly affected; some are inspired to become advocates and activists, celebrating the very conditions they once feared. Woven into their courageous and affirming stories is Solomon's journey to accepting his own identity, which culminated in his midlife decision, influenced by this research, to become a parent. Elegantly reported by a spectacularly original thinker, Far from the Tree explores themes of generosity, acceptance, and tolerance - all rooted in the insight that love can transcend every prejudice. This crucial and revelatory book expands our definition of what it is to be human.

By: Andrew Solomon
Imprint: Scribner Book Company
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 239mm, Width: 165mm, Spine: 53mm
Weight: 1.361kg
ISBN: 9780743236713
ISBN 10: 0743236718
Pages: 976
Publication Date: 13 November 2012
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Reviews for Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity

Solomon, a highly original student of human behavior, has written an intellectual history that lays the foundation for a 21st century Psychological Bill of Rights. In addition to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness on the basis of race and religion, this Bill extends inalienable rights of psychological acceptance to people on the basis of their identity. He provides us with an unrivalled educational experience about identity groups in our society, an experience that is filled with insight, empathy and intelligence. We also discover the redefining, self-restructuring nature that caring for a child produces in parents, no matter how unusual or disabled the child is. Reading Far from the Tree is a mind-opening experience. --Eric Kandel, author of The Age of Insight and winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine