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Raising Cubby: A Father and Son's Adventures with Asperger's, Trains,Tractors, and High Explosives

$25.45  Paperback
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John Elder Robison

  • Raising Cubby
  • Raising Cubby
    The author of the bestselling book about his own life with Asperger's tells the hilarious and enlightening story of raising his son.

384 pages
2013
ISBN: 9780732297145

Misfit, truant, delinquent. John 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.

"John Elder Robison is one of my autism super heroes because he bravely brings humour 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, co-author 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 heart-warming memoir takes us on the colourful 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®

"John Elder Robison is one of my autism super heroes because he bravely brings humour 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, co-author 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 heart-warming memoir takes us on the colourful 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®

"John Elder Robison is one of my autism super heroes because he bravely brings humour 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, co-author 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 heart-warming memoir takes us on the colourful 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®

"John Elder Robison is one of my autism super heroes because he bravely brings humour 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, co-author 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 heart-warming memoir takes us on the colourful 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®

"John Elder Robison is one of my autism super heroes because he bravely brings humour 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, co-author 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 heart-warming memoir takes us on the colourful 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®

"John Elder Robison is one of my autism super heroes because he bravely brings humour 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, co-author 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 heart-warming memoir takes us on the colourful 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®