Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant

Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant

by Daniel Tammet

Daniel Tammet, the author of this moving and graceful memoir, has a very unusual mind. He is affected by Asperger’s Syndrome, a neurological condition related to autism; he’s also a mathematical and linguistic savant, who holds the world record for reciting more than 22,500 digits of pi, and who speaks several languages (including one he’s invented himself). And Tammet lives in a world of synesthesia, a cross-pollination of sensory perceptions where days (like the Wednesday he was born on) can be “blue” and sounds can have shapes.

There are a lot of challenges for someone in Daniel Tammet’s position. One thing this extraordinary book makes clear, though, is that there are also many opportunities. Tammet is candid about the difficulties he faces in dealing with tasks most of us take for granted, like understanding metaphors and listening to conversations in a crowded room. But when he writes about the ways in which his talents can take wing, the joy he feels in using his unique brain and its gifts is unmistakable.

Most of us are familiar with what’s called “savant syndrome” from the movie Rainman, featuring Dustin Hoffman’s unforgettable portrayal of a mathematical genius with autism. One of the most touching chapters in Born on a Blue Day is Tammet’s description of his meeting with Kim Peek, the real-life inspiration for Rainman, when the two were profiled in a recent television documentary.

Unlike Peek and many of his fellow savants, though, Tammet is as gifted with words as he is with numbers. That gift has translated into a book that captures, in simple and direct language, the texture of Tammet’s life and thoughts. The book reads almost like a travel guide to Tammet’s extraordinary mind—his clarity and depth of description make his experiences come alive for the reader. And the level of detail Tammet brings to his observation of the world around him almost compels you to move at his pace, to feel for yourself what it’s like to live in a world so richly textured that it can be overwhelming.

It’s hard to explain how a book so simply and straightforwardly written can be so emotionally powerful. Tammet’s voice is honest and authentic, sometimes conversational and sometimes abstract, but personal and engaging throughout. Like Temple Grandin, the noted animal behaviorist living with autism, Tammet tells his story frankly and fully, and invites you to join him in his experience. The result is nothing short of a revelation.

This is a must-read book for parents, teachers, and friends of anyone living with Asperger’s Syndrome or another autism-spectrum disorder; people who themselves are on the autistic spectrum may well experience it as an encouraging postcard from a familiar country. Most of all, though, this is an absorbing and highly personal look inside the mind and heart of another human being. It’s illuminating, touching, and inspirational.


Free Press
Memoir
ISBN-13: 978-1-4165-3507-2
ISBN-10: 1-4165-3507-1