Book Notes: Look Me in the Eye

Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's by John Elder Robison

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book was a delight to listen to; you get the strength of his character and are not weighed down by his challenging childhood. Robison is famed author, Augusten Burrough’s older brother but he is a celebrity of sorts in his own right. He worked his way up from helping local bands in Amherst, MA to repairing equipment for “The Floyd.” From there, he went on to create special effects for Kiss. That’s right, he CREATED the flaming, smoking, exploding guitars for Kiss in the 80’s. Anyone that remembers Kiss in their heyday AND knows someone with Asperger’s will know that that is pretty Bad Ass!



He credits Asperger’s for giving him a hyper ability to focus on a task and not be affected by people’s perceptions. Look Me in the Eye covers his private and professional life with equal weight, sharing anecdotes from each which lean on the humorous and touching side. While he saw many therapists in his youth, this was before Asperger’s and Autism were a diagnosable condition and they all thought he didn’t like people. Robison has a powerful passage asserting he does like people, and he always wanted to interact with them, he just didn’t understand how. He says how adults are much better at rolling with his irrelevant comments, and those adult interactions are what kept him motivated to improve his social skills.



I have an insatiable appetite for reading books by people with Autism Spectrum Disorders. I find it fascinating to hear the way they interpret their surroundings. Robison pointed out, not one of his teachers ever stopped to ask him why he was doing behavior that appeared deviant. With time, John was able to pick up on his Aspergian eccentrics and adjust them for mainstream living. This can be a lesson to us all; it never hurts to ask! It is absolutely heartwarming to hear John Elder describe his brother, wife and son and know that all in all he is living a pretty typical life full of ups and downs.



A favorite quote from the book is found in Chapter 24, “A touch of Asperger’s is an essential part of much creative genius.” Chew on that for a minute; think about all of the people that have been marginalized for not quite acting like everyone else, and think about all of the known geniuses that were probably a little off in their socializing. I’m glad people are starting to recognize the brilliance hiding behind the veil of quirkiness.





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