Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant » (Reprint)

Daniel Tammet is a writer, linguist and educator. A 2007 poll of 4,000 Britons named him as one of the world's "100 living geniuses." His website company, Optimnem, has provided foreign language instruction to thousands around the globe and his last book, the "New York Times" bestseller "Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant", has been translated into 18 languages. He lives in Avignon, in the south of France.

Simon Vance is a prolific and popular audiobook narrator and actor with several hundred audiobooks to his credit. An Audie(R) Award-winner, Vance was recently named "The Voice of Choice" by "Booklist" magazine.

One of the world's fifty living autistic savants is the first and only to tell his compelling and inspiring life story—-and explain how his incredible mind works.

Publishers Weekly

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 Tammet traces his life from a frustrating, withdrawn childhood and adolescence to his adult achievements, which include teaching in Lithuania, achieving financial independence with an educational Web site and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.

Blue Nines and Red Words     1
Early Years     13
Struck by Lightning: Epilepsy     29
School Days     47
Odd One Out     73
Adolescence     91
Ticket to Kaunas     113
Falling in Love     139
The Gift of Tongues     159
A Very Large Slice of Pi     173
Meeting Kim Peek     187
Reykjavik, New York, Home     205