An evocative and insightful memoir of thriving with ADHD.
Denevi explores “the mountains of material on ADHD from the point of view of a patient.”
The author seeks a middle ground in the debate over whether ADHD is overdiagnosed and/or overmedicated. In his own case, the first symptoms of his problem were frequent meltdowns and impulsive behavior when playing with other children or in a classroom situation. He describes his earliest memory of a tantrum, when he experienced “something deeper than anger, a sense of desperation akin to homesickness” after being chastised for a minor infraction. Today, Denevi explains, the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders lists nine symptoms of ADHD, of which six must be met for a diagnosis. His behavior at age 5 fit all of the symptoms, but this was in 1985, when the condition was still poorly defined. Only after a year during which he was subjected to a number of tests to exclude food allergies or epilepsy was Denevi finally diagnosed with the condition. He was first prescribed Ritalin, but the medication increased his agitation, and he was switched to a mild antidepressant. He was also treated by a child psychologist throughout his childhood and adolescence, and his parents worked closely with his therapist and teachers to help him control his impulsiveness and distractibility. In classrooms where his teachers were sympathetic, his behavior improved, but he was the target of bullies. As he grew into his teens, his attitude became more flamboyant and assertive; this led him to minor delinquency. With strong support from his parents, he managed to excel academically. Now married and a father, Denevi still copes with symptoms of the disorder and takes small doses of Ritalin. In his view, the treatment of ADHD should aim to alleviate “the levels of conflict and stress” so that children can “make it safely into adulthood.”
Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4767-0257-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
The author's youthfulness helps to assure the inevitable comparison with the Anne Frank diary although over and above the...
Elie Wiesel spent his early years in a small Transylvanian town as one of four children.
He was the only one of the family to survive what Francois Maurois, in his introduction, calls the "human holocaust" of the persecution of the Jews, which began with the restrictions, the singularization of the yellow star, the enclosure within the ghetto, and went on to the mass deportations to the ovens of Auschwitz and Buchenwald. There are unforgettable and horrifying scenes here in this spare and sombre memoir of this experience of the hanging of a child, of his first farewell with his father who leaves him an inheritance of a knife and a spoon, and of his last goodbye at Buchenwald his father's corpse is already cold let alone the long months of survival under unconscionable conditions.
Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2006
ISBN: 0374500010
Page Count: 120
Publisher: Hill & Wang
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2006
Well-told and admonitory.
Young-rags-to-mature-riches memoir by broker and motivational speaker Gardner.
Born and raised in the Milwaukee ghetto, the author pulled himself up from considerable disadvantage. He was fatherless, and his adored mother wasn’t always around; once, as a child, he spied her at a family funeral accompanied by a prison guard. When beautiful, evanescent Moms was there, Chris also had to deal with Freddie “I ain’t your goddamn daddy!” Triplett, one of the meanest stepfathers in recent literature. Chris did “the dozens” with the homies, boosted a bit and in the course of youthful adventure was raped. His heroes were Miles Davis, James Brown and Muhammad Ali. Meanwhile, at the behest of Moms, he developed a fondness for reading. He joined the Navy and became a medic (preparing badass Marines for proctology), and a proficient lab technician. Moving up in San Francisco, married and then divorced, he sold medical supplies. He was recruited as a trainee at Dean Witter just around the time he became a homeless single father. All his belongings in a shopping cart, Gardner sometimes slept with his young son at the office (apparently undiscovered by the night cleaning crew). The two also frequently bedded down in a public restroom. After Gardner’s talents were finally appreciated by the firm of Bear Stearns, his American Dream became real. He got the cool duds, hot car and fine ladies so coveted from afar back in the day. He even had a meeting with Nelson Mandela. Through it all, he remained a prideful parent. His own no-daddy blues are gone now.
Well-told and admonitory.Pub Date: June 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-06-074486-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Amistad/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2006
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