Born On A Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant by Daniel Tammet

A journey into one of the most fascinating minds alive today-guided by the owner himself. Bestselling author Daniel Tammet (Thinking in Numbers) is virtually unique among people who have severe autistic disorders in that he is capable of living a fully independent life and able to explain what is happening inside his head. He sees numbers as shapes, colors, and textures, and he can perform extraordinary calculations in his head. He can learn to speak new languages fluently, from scratch, in a week. In 2004, he memorized and recited more than 22,000 digits of pi, setting a record. He has savant syndrome, an extremely rare condition that gives him the most unimaginable mental powers, much like those portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the film Rain Man. Fascinating and inspiring, Born on a Blue Day explores what it's like to be special and gives us an insight into what makes us all human-our minds. Editorial Reviews Artists and poets would give their best simile to perceive things with the same kind of vividness...For anyone interested in the workings of a truly 'beautiful mind,' Born on a Blue Day is a banquet. - Minneapolis Star Tribune Tammet, now 28, manages the feat of introspection - and self-insight. His book brims with humanity. His approach is honest, eloquent, at times funny, and completely free of pity. - The Cleveland Plain Dealer With all due respect to Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates, and any living Nobel laureates, the most remarkable mind on the planet just might belong to Daniel Tammet...Tammet displays a surprising level of sensitivity - and a refreshing lack of sentimentality - in an account that inspires even as it astonishes. - Entertainment Weekly Remarkable, revealing, and nearly flawless. - The Raleigh News & Observer - From the Publisher Daniel Tammet suffers from a rare form of Asperger's syndrome that gives him amazing mental powers but also makes it difficult for him to engage in basic social interactions. He is able to calculate enormous sums in his head with lightning speed and has mastered more than seven languages. He also experiences narrow fixations, finds human emotions hard to understand, and has an obsessive need for order and routine. As one of fewer than 50 autistic savants living in the world today, Tammet would be deemed remarkable by any standard; but what makes him truly exceptional is that he alone has overcome his crippling disabilities to live independently, form lasting relationships, and describe his world in an astonishingly articulate manner. A unique firsthand account rendered in precise -- and often lyrically poetic -- language, Born on a Blue Day reveals the inner workings of a beautiful mind in all its chaotic splendor. - This unique first-person account offers a window into the mind of a high-functioning, 27-year-old British autistic savant with Asperger's syndrome. Tammet's ability to think abstractly, deviate from routine, and empathize, interact and communicate with others is impaired, yet he's capable of incredible feats of memorization and mental calculation. Besides being able to effortlessly multiply and divide huge sums in his head with the speed and accuracy of a computer, Tammet, the subject of the 2005 documentary Brainman, learned Icelandic in a single week and recited the number pi up to the 22,514th digit, breaking the European record. He also experiences synesthesia, an unusual neurological syndrome that enables him to experience numbers and words as shapes, colors, textures and motions. Tammet traces his life from a frustrating, withdrawn childhood and adolescence to his adult achievements, which include teaching in Lithuania, achieving financial independence with an educational Web site and sustaining a long-term romantic relationship. As one of only about 50 people living today with synesthesia and autism, Tammet's condition is intriguing to researchers; his ability to express himself clearly and with a surprisingly engaging tone (given his symptoms) makes for an account that will intrigue others as well. (Jan.)Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information. - Publishers Weekly A riveting account of living with autism. Tammet, a 27-year-old Brit, is a highly functional autistic individual and something of a genius when it comes to numbers-he's a terrific chess player and knows over 22,000 digits of pi. Here, he chronicles his often confusing childhood and his successful adult life. As a schoolboy, he felt isolated: Autistic children tend toward literalism, and they have a difficult time catching unstated nuances in speech. And so, when teachers or friends spoke to Tammet but failed to ask him a direct question, he didn't realize he was supposed to respond. Although, as the author explains, autistic people tend not to catch on to emotional undercurrents, Tammet is quite attentive to the stresses and strains in his childhood home: His father had a nervous breakdown and there was never enough money (Tammet experienced his parents' fights as a color-blue). Turning to adolescence and his early 20s, Tammet recalls coming out as gay, but he doesn't allow sexuality to take over the book. Perhaps the most affecting chapters come near the end, as the author describes the quiet comfort he has achieved with his partner, Neil. In the predictable order of their shared home, Tammet feels calm...and secure. Tammet usefully sets his own story in a wider context, with period discussions of the state of research into autism and Asperger's syndrome. At times, he is quite poetic, especially when he writes about numbers. In his mind, numbers have shape, color and texture. Describing his occasional nighttime visions of numbers, Tammet explains that walking around my numerical landscapes...I never feel lost, because the prime number shapes act as signposts.Transcends thedisability-memoir genre. Agent: Andrew Lownie/Andrew Lownie Literary Agency - Kirkus Reviews