Lenka S. reviewed on 3/22/2010 + 822 more book reviews

Though the writing is good the story is not one to choose lightly.
The book portrays dysfunctional family through the eyes of mentally challenged teen boy. To put it in a nutshell:
The mother is sick & tired of caring for her Autistic son, so she runs off with some guy to London, while the angry father proclaims to everyone that she died of Herat attack (to save his pride). The lonely father befriends their neighbor (mistaking pity for romance) who helps them out with the daily chores of cooking and cleaning. When the father spills the notion of marriage to the charitable woman she goes into a fit and slams the door in his face. Then he goes into a fit and kills her dog with a garden-pitchfork (??)
His son finds the dead dog and is arrested, which gives him the idea, to go and find the killer. Instead of finding the killer he finds hidden letters from his mom who isnt dead as he thought. After the father comes clean to him about moms death and the dog, the boy runs off to London, where his mothers boyfriend goes into a fit when he sees him. The mother returns him to the father a day later. Everyone is surprised she isnt dead. The end.

Half of the book is about solving mathematical problems (prime numbers, size of the universe) the other half is distressing (effects of Autism), depressing (father), and discussing (mom). WARNING: Definitely NOT creative, light, funny, great read, or re-read as the other reviews claim. You may find your self skipping whole chapters (I give it 1/2 *)

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