Funny, You Don't Look Autistic

This was already amazing but then he went on to talk about Temple Grandin and Neil Gaiman, people that I love.

This was a neat memoir (if that's still the right word to use for a young adult??) of a comedian/performer/person with autism. If you are curious about the spectrum and are looking for a good point of entry into learning more, this book would be a good place to start. This would be especially appropriate for a teen who is looking to understand this world. Mostly autobiography with some education thrown in. And of course it's always fascinating to just read what life is like for someone whose brain is wired differently from mine.

If you're interested in a slightly deeper (but still super interesting and well written) book about ASD, I always recommend Neurotribes.

Nothing wrong with this per se, but the author is a bit young for a memoir (22), so there's not a lot of meat to this.

And I guess I was expecting something more along the lines of the title, which sounds like a surprised response to successful masking. The author wears his autism quite visibly by being a comedian whose humor talks about his experiences. Which is great, but we never hear the conversation of the title, and it sounds like he must get a lot in adulthood. Instead we hear about his childhood/teens where everyone could tell that he was autistic, and the bullying and outcast feelings that come with it. (Which is fine - include that in your memoir, by all means, but I was just expecting the title to come in somewhere I suppose.)

I have to admit I had no idea who McCreary was when I picked up this book, so I went in without expectation.

Even without expectations this book managed to be a letdown, it wasn't funny and even for such a young writer it completely lacked depth. Might there be a small subset of the autistic community who would benefit from reading this book? Maybe the white boys with an early diagnosis, a supportive family and fairly low support needs?

There is an overabundance of links which made me feel like I was dealing with a collection of blog posts and not an actual book.

This one might not be entirely fair because when the book was written the autism community definitely wasn't quite where it is today on the topic but the constant use of the term aspie was jarring.

The name dropping and the fanboying over Neil Gaiman was tedious.

Insightful account on what it's like to be autistic from first-hand knowledge and glad that you described your autism in a funny and light-hearted way.

I don't think I've ever heard or seen McCreary's stand up, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. There were things I learned, but also just hearing someone else's story is always interesting. I wish the epilogue didn't bring such sadness, but I understand his desire to record his story as it has happened. This was a super fast read, not as laugh out loud funny as I expected, but I'm glad I read it!

Story: 7 / 10
Characters: 7
Prose: 6

3.25 stars Listened to this audiobook while playing Animal Crossing. Some parts were funny, some a little more serious, but overall, for me, it was just an okay read. Disclaimer: I had no idea who Michael McCreary was before I picked this up. Maybe I would've enjoyed it more if I had...

★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2 (rounded up)
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader as part of a quick takes post to catch up–emphasizing pithiness, not thoroughness.
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McCreary was five when he was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, but it had challenged him and his parents far before then. In this short memoir, he talks about growing up with ASD and finding his place in performing and comedy. This wasn't as funny as you might hope from a comedian's memoir, but given that the focus of it was on the way he got through life and learning his craft while learning how to live in a neurotypical world, it'd be hard to be funny. Still, there was a light-heartedness to the entire book that made it pretty appealing.

I had plenty of fun listening to this, and gained some insight (much needed, I expect) into ASD. I think the hard copy might be a bit better because there are charts, graphs, etc. he mentions throughout (yes, there are pdf versions available on the publisher's site, but who listens to an audiobook when they can stop and look at a pdf?).