The Ride Together: A Brother and Sister's Memoir of Autism in the Family

Rating:
Summary: Not fully developed.
Review: Although the format is indeed innovative; interspersing cartoon chapters with prose, neither type of chapter had enough substance to make it worth reading. The book had a very interesting premise (which made me buy it), but I was disappointed that it was so loosely tied together and undeveloped.

Rating:
Summary: A fantastic book!
Review: This book is fantastic. It works on many levels. It makes autism less mysterious; it tells a compelling story; it shows how our experiences as part of a family make us who we are. The book alternates chapters of prose and graphic-novel format. This composition is very original and serves its subject well, conveying a complexity of emotion and relationships that neither format would be able to convey alone. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in autism, the human condition, or the creative process.

Rating:
Summary: A n amazing book!
Review: What a unique and astounding experience this book is. The authors tell the story of their autistic brother in a way that made me shake my head in wonder. Alternating chapters of prose and graphic/illustrated text paint a portrait of such power and poignant insight that neither method alone could ever achieve. For me, it was like when, after instumental music has taken us as far as it can, the vocal chorus kicks in in Beethoven's Ninth. As I read (and re-read) this book, I found that the chapters were almost conducting a dialog with each other, with "prose" chapters challenging the "words-and-pictures" ones, and vice versa, each chapter upping the narrative ante. Because the format alternates as it does, our brains are constantly challenged and engaged, and we get to know David and all the members of the Karasik family in wasy that make it unlikely that we will soon forget them.

A stunning achievement.