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Matthew's Enigma

Matthew's Enigma A Father's Portrait of His Autistic Son

Paperback (08 Apr 2009)

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Publisher's Synopsis

Matthew's Enigma unfolds the complex relationship between a father, who is a Romanian emigré and distinguished university professor, and his son, who was diagnosed with autism when he was 7 years old. Matei Calinescu's desire to understand Matthew-his namesake-is the theme of this moving memoir. Calinescu's determined search for the meaning of his son's enigmatic illness continues even after Matthew's sudden death at age 25. Reminiscences about Matthew's life are interwoven with observations of his behavior and reflections on the difficulties that autistic persons encounter in social situations. Drawing from journals that he kept, beginning with Matthew's birth, as well as from his experience as a scholar of literature and philosophy and a reader of psychologists' and brain scientists' writings about autism, Calinescu has composed an inspiring and lyrical essay about love and illness, memory and forgetfulness, sociability and alienation.

About the Publisher

Indiana University Press

Book information

ISBN: 9780253220660
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Imprint: Indiana University Press
Pub date:
DEWEY: 618.92858820092
DEWEY edition: 22
Language: English
Number of pages: 208
Weight: 322g
Height: 210mm
Width: 140mm
Spine width: 17mm