Leaving Home

An unflinching, brilliantly written, darkly funny, lavishly illustrated memoir by the acclaimed author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time; a chronicle of a miserable childhood and a life riven by mental and physical ailments, but ultimately a ringing testament about how one artist sees the world and how his experiences have shaped his vision.

The first thing to know about Leaving Home is that it is riotously funny. Despite the fact that Haddon’s life story involves almost unbelievably cold and unloving parents, being shipped off to a British boarding school whose culture of sadistic viciousness surpasses any fictional stereotypes, chronic depression, self-harm, a heart attack and endemic brain fog caused by long Covid, the book is deeply hilarious. The second thing to know is that the mix of old photos, original drawings, vintage advertisements and visual ephemera is perfectly woven into the text, creating a seamless interplay between word and image. The third thing to know is that this is not merely the account of one writer’s life. Leaving Home is ultimately about creativity and its wellsprings, about what this gifted writer and artist experienced, how those experiences shaped his view of the world and how he communicates that view through an aesthetic vision.

Whether Haddon is relating his stint as a social worker for a quadriplegic who turned out to be a member of a bizarre Evangelical cult, or intertwined episodes of extreme hypochondria and feelings of worthlessness, or a disastrous stint as a children’s television writer, or tending to his ailing elderly parents who remained enduringly unpleasant, his complete honesty and sharp wit is bracing and inviting. But no matter how outrageous, horrifying, or poignant the episodes may be, the sheer brilliance of the prose and aptness of the illustrations show how pain, cruelty, illness and absurdity can become art. Leaving Home is utterly devoid pretense or affectation, but resolutely humane.

Mark Haddon is best known as the author of the classic novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, but this astoundingly beautiful volume may stand as his landmark work.