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A review by chermarie0123
Autism in Heels: The Untold Story of a Female Life on the Spectrum by Jennifer Cook O'Toole
4.0
I’m really not sure how to feel about this book. It fluctuated in form between being a memoir and being informational, and I think it would have worked better if the author had focused on only one thing or the other. It would have felt more cohesive to me that way. While I totally get her meandering way of narrating stories and sharing information (as someone who has ADHD myself) I feel like an editor could have tightened this up and straightened it all out a bit better.
I bought the book both in paperback and in audiobook format, and I think that listening to the audio version improved the overall experience significantly. The author is a public speaker, and when read aloud, the meandering text felt more like listening to an enjoyable TED talk. The book felt much more suited to being spoken aloud than being read on a page, and it made me wonder if the book was compiled from the author’s previous speeches (and like I already mentioned, perhaps just needed some extra editing attention).
Many of the other issues people had with the book felt like they came down to editing issues as well. Just a couple of examples: Her inappropriate use of Sojourner Truth’s words could have been caught by a sensitivity reader. Her tone that sometimes came off as arrogant could have been softened by a line editor. She freely admits many times that her autism keeps her from realizing her social missteps, so I don’t hold these things against her. But I do think it’s unfortunate that they weren’t fixed, as they seem to be detracting from her message for many reviewers.
For myself personally, while I was frequently confused by all the jumping around in the timeline of the memoir portions, I still very much enjoyed this book and am so glad I read it because it is the first time I have really seen myself and my experiences represented in a book. And with such compassion and hope and beauty, no less.
All other things aside, the author’s goal in writing the book was to help other women see where they fit on the spectrum, and that much she did so very successfully!
I bought the book both in paperback and in audiobook format, and I think that listening to the audio version improved the overall experience significantly. The author is a public speaker, and when read aloud, the meandering text felt more like listening to an enjoyable TED talk. The book felt much more suited to being spoken aloud than being read on a page, and it made me wonder if the book was compiled from the author’s previous speeches (and like I already mentioned, perhaps just needed some extra editing attention).
Many of the other issues people had with the book felt like they came down to editing issues as well. Just a couple of examples: Her inappropriate use of Sojourner Truth’s words could have been caught by a sensitivity reader. Her tone that sometimes came off as arrogant could have been softened by a line editor. She freely admits many times that her autism keeps her from realizing her social missteps, so I don’t hold these things against her. But I do think it’s unfortunate that they weren’t fixed, as they seem to be detracting from her message for many reviewers.
For myself personally, while I was frequently confused by all the jumping around in the timeline of the memoir portions, I still very much enjoyed this book and am so glad I read it because it is the first time I have really seen myself and my experiences represented in a book. And with such compassion and hope and beauty, no less.
All other things aside, the author’s goal in writing the book was to help other women see where they fit on the spectrum, and that much she did so very successfully!