The Anti-Romantic Child
With an emotionally resonant combination of memoirand literature, Wordsworth scholar Priscilla Gilman recounts the challenges ofraising a son with hyperlexia, a developmentaldisorder neurologically counterpoint to dyslexia. Gilman explores thecomplexities of our hopes and expectations for our children and ourselves. Withluminous prose and a searing, personal story evocative of A Year of MagicalThinking and A Year of Reading Proust, Gilman's The Anti-RomanticChild is an unforgettable exploration of what happens when we lean toembrace the unexpected.
Earn by promoting books
Earn money by sharing your favorite books through our Affiliate program.
Become an affiliatePriscilla Gilman grew up in New York City and is a former professor of English literature at Yale University and Vassar College. She has taught poetry appreciation to inmates in a restorative justice program and to New York City public school students. The Anti-Romantic Child, her first book, was excerpted in Newsweek magazine and featured on the cover of its international edition; it was an NPR Morning Edition Must-Read, Slate's Book of the Week, and selected as one the Best Books of 2011 by the Leonard Lopate Show. Gilman writes regularly for publications including the Daily Beast, the New York Times, and the Huffington Post, speaks frequently at schools, conferences, and organizations about parenting, education, and the arts, and is a Scholar/Facilitator for the New York Council for the Humanities. She lives in New York City with her family. The Anti-Romantic Child has been nominated for a Books for a Better Life Award for Best First Book.
"Smart, soulful, and involving." -- Nick Hornby, The Believer
"Rapturously beautiful and deeply moving, profound and marvelous." -- Andrew Solomon, author of Far from the Tree
"The Anti-Romantic Child is beautiful, poetic, and heartfelt. It's more than a mother-child story; it's a journey of self-discovery. It's a book every parent should read." -- Kathryn Erskine, bestselling author of Mockingbird and winner of the 2010 National Book Award
"Priscilla Gilman's lyrical narrative is profoundly moving and ultimately joyous. It eloquently touches the universal." -- Harold Bloom
"What a glorious book Priscilla Gilman has written. Lively, eloquent, straightforward, and insightful, The Anti-Romantic Child deftly delineates and negotiates the complex cross-currents of a life of the mind and a life of the heart." -- Sandra Boynton, children's book author and illustrator
"Every parent should read this luminous book to absorb or absorb again the truth that every child is a surprise--a revelation--to be uniquely learned and understood as well as loved." -- Mary Catherine Bateson, author of Composing A Further Life: The Age of Active Wisdom
"Unforgettable. . . . I couldn't put this book down." -- Gretchen Rubin, bestselling author of The Happiness Project
"This is a fascinating, tender, illuminating book about an extraordinary boy and his equally extraordinary mother. A wonderful read." -- Martha Beck, author of Expecting Adam and columnist for O magazine
"A book for all parents. . . . [Gilman's] poignant story of reconciling fantasy with reality is a universal story of parental growth. A story to inspire us all." -- Ellen Galinsky, the Huffington Post
"A fantastic memoir. . . . I loved this book." -- KJ Dell'Antonia, lead blogger for the New York Times Motherlode