Raising Cubby
A Father and Son's Adventures with Asperger's, Trains, Tractors, and High Explosives
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
The slyly funny, sweetly moving memoir of an uncoventional dad's relationship with his equally offbeat son.
Misfit, truant, delinquent: Robison was never a model child, and he wasn't a model dad either. Diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome at the age of forty, he approached fatherhood as a series of logic puzzles and practical jokes. When his son, Cubby, asked, 'Where did I come from?' John said he'd bought him at the Kid Store, and that the salesman had cheated him by promising Cubby would 'do all chores'. He read electrical engineering manuals to Cubby at bedtime. He told Cubby that wizards turned children to stone when they misbehaved. Still, John got the basics right. He gave Cubby a life of adventure: by the time Cubby was ten, he'd driven a freight locomotive and run an antique Rolls-Royce into a fence. the one thing John couldn't figure out was what to do when school authorities decided that Cubby was dumb and stubborn - the very same thing he had been told as a child. Did Cubby have Asperger's too? the answer was uncertain. One thing was clear, though: by the time he turned seventeen, Cubby had become a brilliant chemist - smart enough to make military-grade explosives and bring State and Federal agents calling. With Cubby facing an expensive trial, and up to sixty years in prison, both father and son were forced to take stock of their lives, finally accepting that being 'on the spectrum' is both a challenge and a gift. By turns tender, suspenseful and hilarious, this is more than just the story of raising Cubby. It's the story of a father and son who grow up together. EARLY PRAISE FOR RAISING CUBBY "John Elder Robison is one of my autism super heroes because he bravely brings humor and humility to the heart and soul of the taboo and unexpected corners of life lived with autism. His new book, Raising Cubby, is more than a memoir about a father and son bound by their Asperger syndrome. It's a story that reminds us how precious and precarious the parent child relationship is and how beautiful our lives can be when we are share that ride together. Raising Cubby is Robison's best work yet." -Liane Holliday-Willey, coauthor of Pretending to Be Normal: Living with Asperger Syndrome "John Robison's skill as a master storyteller is nowhere more evident than in his third book, Raising Cubby. this heartwarming memoir takes us on the colorful journey of John and his son, Jack (aka Cubby), as they learn about the world together. At turns funny and poignant, it is, above all, the story of the powerful love of a father for his son. told in the immensely entertaining and engaging style of John Elder Robison, it should be on everyone's must-read list." -Lori S. Shery, President and Founder, ASPEN®
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Robison's third book starts with a bang his description of the "malicious explosion" created by his teenage Cubby that has the boy, who has Asperger's syndrome, looking at 60 years in prison, is as disconcerting as it is captivating. Sadly, much of the book drops off from there as the author segues into the personal story of his own transition from adolescence to adulthood. While the social problems he encounters because he, too, has Aspergers, are appealing, the stories of his business dealings lack the appeal of Cubby's journey. The tales of bringing up his son, which are relayed in 55 short chapter-length vignettes and told in the accessible prose that made his book Look Me in the Eye, a New York Times bestseller, are decidedly hit or miss. For instance, "Tuck-in Time," which simply explains that kids like bedtime stories, gives little insight into Aspergers or to Cubby's personality. On the other hand, "Cubby Versus the School" and "Reading" give a personal and informative perspective on the challenges kids with Cubby's condition face when it comes to acceptance and learning. The story picks up in the last 100 pages, as Cubby, a brilliant kid with an inquisitive scientific mind, creates explosive chemistry experiments that bring charges from the local DA. With the ensuing investigation and trial, Cubby and the author are drawn into a crazy world that threatens to tear apart their already delicate lives and allows the book to live up to the promise of its exciting first five pages.
