Far From the Tree
Parents, Children and the Search for Identity
About the book
Andrew Solomon's study of family difference draws on a decade of research and on interviews with over 300 families. He writes about parents of children who are deaf, autistic or have Down syndrome, dwarfism, schizophrenia or several severe disabilities, and of children who are prodigies, transgender, conceived in rape or who become criminals. His proposition is that being exceptional is central to the human condition, and that difference unites people. Solomon frames all parenting around one question: how far to accept children as they are, and how far to help them grow into their best selves. It won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction and the Wellcome Book Prize and was adapted into a 2017 documentary.
Life and Limb Gel founder Chelsea Frank found it long and at times a little depressing but very insightful about parents who struggle to connect with children different from themselves.
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This book has 1 recommendation
Chelsea Frank (Founder/Life and Limb Gel)
I’m reading “Far From The Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity” By: Andrew Solomon and have nearly finished it. It is quite long at nearly 40 hours, and a little depressing at times, but very insightful. When children are born that do not share the same identities with their parents and are considered “different” by being deaf, autistic, transgender, or genius, parents often struggle to relate, connect, and support their child appropriately. On the other hand, perhaps diversity is what unites us. Hundreds of stories of parent-child relationships are presented over his 10 years extensively researching for this book and over 200 pages of citations support his work.
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