Far From the Tree

One of the Best Books of the 21st Century by The New York Times | Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Books for a Better Life Award | One of The New York Times Book Review’s 10 Best Books of the Year This masterpiece by the National Book Award–winning author of The Noonday Demon features stories of parents navigating profound differences with their children and finding meaning in doing so—“a brave, beautiful book that will expand your humanity” (People). Solomon’s startling proposition in Far from the Tree is that being exceptional is at the core of the human condition—that difference is what unites us. He writes about families coping with deafness, dwarfism, Down syndrome, autism, schizophrenia, or multiple severe disabilities; with children who are prodigies, who are conceived in rape, who become criminals, who are transgender. While each of these characteristics is potentially isolating, the experience of difference within families is universal, and Solomon documents triumphs of love over prejudice in every chapter. All parenting turns on a crucial question: to what extent should parents accept their children for who they are, and to what extent should they help them become their best selves. Drawing on ten years of research and interviews with more than three hundred families, Solomon mines the eloquence of ordinary people facing extreme challenges. Elegantly reported by a spectacularly original and compassionate thinker, Far from the Tree explores parenting, identity, difference, and acceptance—and how people who love each other must struggle to accept each other, a theme in every family’s life.