Ever since he was small, John Robison had longed to connect with other people, but by the time he was a teenager, his odd habits—an inclination to blurt out non sequiturs, avoid eye contact, dismantle radios, and dig five-foot holes (and stick his younger brother in them)—had earned him the label “social deviant.” No guidance came from his mother, who conversed with light fixtures, or his father, who spent evenings pickling himself in sherry. It was no wonder he gravitated to machines, which could, at least, be counted on. After fleeing his parents and dropping out of high school, his savant-like ability to visualize electronic circuits landed him a gig with KISS, for whom he created their legendary fire-breathing guitars. Later, he drifted into a “real” job, as an engineer for a major toy company. But the higher Robison rose in the company, the more he had to pretend to be “normal” and do what he simply couldn’t: communicate. It wasn’t worth the paycheck. It was not until he was forty that an insightful therapist told him he had the form of autism called Asperger’s syndrome. That understanding transformed the way Robison saw himself—and the world. Look Me in the Eye is the moving, darkly funny story of growing up with Asperger’s at a time when the diagnosis simply didn’t exist. A born storyteller, Robison takes you inside the head of a boy whom teachers and other adults regarded as “defective,” who could not avail himself of KISS’s endless supply of groupies, and who still has a peculiar aversion to using people’s given names (he calls his wife “Unit Two”). He also provides a fascinating reverse angle on the younger brother he left at the mercy of their nutty parents—the boy who would later change his name to Augusten Burroughs and write the bestselling memoir Running with Scissors . Ultimately, this is the story of Robison’s journey from his world into ours, and his new life as a husband, father, and successful small business owner—repairing his beloved high-end automobiles. It’s a strange, sly, indelible account—sometimes alien, yet always deeply human. From the Hardcover edition.

你想过星期三是什么颜色的吗？数字在你眼中，有各自的性格和脾气吗？在他眼中，9是黑且大，6是绿色且灵动；他1周学会了世上最难的冰岛语；他能背出22000多个圆周率位数，却在6岁被诊断为自闭症。 他就是本书的主人公——丹尼尔•塔米特。在本书中，他将带你走进关于自闭症天才的多彩幸福人生。他告诉你，“特别”是什么滋味，也让身而为人的我们，一窥“人心”是怎么回事。 当你透过丹尼尔诗意般的言语描述，深入这些“雨人”的内心世界时，他们真诚而洁净的心灵，会令你无比感动，也会让你对他们产生了更多的谅解与爱心，而对于天才，也会怀有更多的敬意。 其实，他们不是病人、不是怪人，他们只不过有自己的生活方式，他们的星球也很美。细探丹尼尔之后，你可能会发现“小雨人”存在于每个人的心里。