A Different Life: Growing Up Learning Disabled and Other Adventures

Bradlee, Quinn

ISBN 10: 1586481894 / ISBN 13: 9781586481896

Published by PublicAffairs, 2009

Very Good condition. Good dust jacket. A copy that may have a few cosmetic defects. May also contain light spine creasing or a few markings such as an owner's name, short gifter's inscription or light stamp. Seller Inventory # L06C-02937

Synopsis:

This articulate, frank, entertaining memoir of growing up with a profound developmental and learning disability-by the son of long-time "Washington Post" Executive Editor Ben Bradlee and bestselling author Sally Quinn - will inspire everyone who has or deals with learning differences.Quinn Bradlee was diagnosed with VCFS, a syndrome that affects 1 in 2000 individuals but which stealthily masks itself with 180 symptoms that range from scoliosis to susceptibility to schizophrenia. (VCFS is the result of a submicroscopic deletion of a tiny segment of DNA on the 22nd chromosome that happens randomly in an instant during recombination in sexual cell reproduction). "A Different Life" is a revealing portrait of growing up battling the physical, mental, and social challenges presented by a sometimes debilitating and almost always demanding disorder, and a poignant confessional of the experience of growing up with such limitations as the son of incredibly accomplished and famous parents.From detailing his cringe-worthy loss of sexual innocence, to delineating the difficulties he experiences reading social cues, Quinn opens a door into his world-one in which he constantly questions what, exactly, is normal. At turns funny and saddening, Bradlee's memoir is a poignant rumination on the loneliness of being different, and at the same time, the indisputable joy he experiences in life. A balanced portrait that is optimistic without being Polly-annish, "A Different Life" deftly plumbs the depths of living in a different sort of house. Both benefiting and complicating Quinn's experience are his parents': two larger than life figures who can make things happen for their son, but whose long shadows also threaten to occlude him.

About the Author: Quinn Bradlee has made a series of short documentary films about children with learning disabilities and rare genetic syndromes, and he is also launching a website to create a community for l.d. kids and their families. He works for healthcentral.com and lives in Washington, D.C. Jeff Himmelman is a writer based in Washington, D.C. His reporting and writing with Woodward helped The Washington Post win the Pulitzer Prize for its post-9/11 coverage, and he received a front-page byline in the Post for the third instalment of Woodward's series with reporter Dan Balz about the Bush Administration's response to the attacks.

Bibliographic Details

Title: A Different Life: Growing Up Learning ...
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Publication Date: 2009
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included