Book: Journal of Best Practices
Author: David Finch
Why I Read It: I love reading pretty much anything related to psychology.
First Line: "I was thirty years old and had been married five years when I learned that I have Asperger syndrome, a relatively mild form of autism."
First Impression: I love the layout and format of this book.
Last Impression: This was amazing. Such an uplifting read full of valuable insight and useful tips for respecting the requirements of marriage. Finch discusses the needs of yourself and your spouse, the weight of 'what marriage is supposed to be,' balancing love and family, communication and the commitment of two people despite the difficulty of the situation.
Ratings
Overall – 4 Heart Skipped A Beat It is heartfelt, insightful and great advice for every married couple, even us "neurotypicals" as Finch refers those without a syndrome or imbalanced neurochemistry.
Characters – 4 David portrays his wife Kristen in a very realistic way, and speaks about himself just as honestly. It would be easy to paint himself as a hero, but he doesn't pull any punches and relates events in a way that lets the reader understand Kristen's frustration.
Story – 4 The novel is about the discovery of Finch's Asperger syndrome at a moment of crisis in his marriage. It's more soul searching journey than story and pulls you in.
Narration – 4 Finch is straightforward and poetic in relating his impressions of the world and how he interacts with it.
Read Again? Unlikely, but simply because I don't reread memoir or nonfiction very often.
Tell Others to Read? Yes and yes. This was a well-written easy read from a unique perspective on a topic many of us can relate to.
Excerpt: Then we married each other and things changed. When you're in love, you can't beat the motion of two souls uniting, two lives becoming forever one. Sooner or later, though, the romance fades. one day you realize you are two souls united...but there's only one cupcake left in the Tupperware container in the fridge. That's when reality sets in: We're going to have to deal with stuff, and it might not be easy. Whether Kristen and I were ready for it or not (which, clearly, we were not), our relationship changed after we were married, and the nature of what we needed to express changed with it: How shall we handle our finances? What's your philosophy on child rearing? What do you mean you have interests and aspirations beyond being my wife?!
We weren't alone. Most couples don't consider or discuss these types of things until they have to, until they're both staring at the same cupcake, wondering what they've gotten themselves into. Kristen and I would learn that these were the things we would have to talk about if we wanted our marriage to work. As we got farther into married life, we'd also discover that I was particularly unprepared - unequipped, it seemed - to do that.
Content property of Simon and Schuster.
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