Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's Book

I am interested in the Asperger's continuum, so when I heard about this memoir - written by Augusten Burroughs's brother - I added it to my Amazon wish list. The title leads one to believe that the book is about the author's life with Asperger's, but that's a little misleading. The book is about his life in general and very little is devoted to how Asperger's influenced his life at all ages. I wanted to read a memoir about growing up within a dysfunctional family and also having a condition that makes life different, but what I read was about his experiences with sound engineering, some good stories that you can hear in any bar and, occasionally, his Asperger's. His condition seemed to be tangential, an afterthought. A selling point?

I skimmed through most of the middle part of the book through the end because it just wasn't interesting, nor was it even remotely related to the story I thought he would be relating to the reader. He writes in his afterword that he "wanted to show readers what it was like to grow up feeling like a freak or a misfit." It did not. He writes that he wanted also to show what life with Asperger's was like, how those with the condition are different. He doesn't do that, either. He doesn't settle on any one part of his life long enough to explain anything, and the result is a collection of chapters and words by Augusten Burroughs's brother, not an account of life with Asperger's.

One of the reviews on the back cover of the paperback book reads, "...Should be on the reading list of anyone who is interested in the human mind." As someone deeply interested in psychology, neurology, brain and behavior, I am almost offended by that statement. The book gives absolutely nothing - neither personal nor scientific - to sate any curiosity one may have of the human mind.

Just because you have some decent stories doesn't mean you can write a memoir. I'm sorry I bought this book.