Don is not like most people. He is "wired" differently.
Reading this book was interesting for me beyond the story itself. I am the mother to a young person with Autism. While my son isn't as rigid in his life as Don is there are areas where rigidity is an issue and so reading Don's story was like insight into my son's mind. Granted my son is 10 and not on the search for a life partner, yet. But when we are given Don's inner dialogue and his reactions I can see my son in many of them.
The Rosie Project grows out of The Father Project which grew out of The Wife Project. In the search for Rosie's father Don learns he is capable of love even if his ability to express it is different. He also learns he is able to change his behavior without changing who is he, a lesson we can all benefit from.
Something I found interesting here is that no one tells Don, nor does Don ever say that he is Autistic, specifically Aspergers. Even as he works on a project related to the diagnosis he doesn't see himself in the description. Others hint at it to him but no one ever comes right out and says it.
At the heart this is a love story of the kind that believes there is someone for everyone, but it is more. It is a story of how different is not bad, that even those who don't fit into traditional societal norms, who have less than ideal childhoods, who are just "fucked-up" as Rosie would say, can find love and fulfillment in life.
It took me a little while to get into this book but in hindsight it wasn't the fault of the book, it was that I was awaiting the next book in a series I love that was coming out the day after I started this one. Then I put this aside to read the other book and then had a few days of not being able to get the other story out of my head, I sometimes mourn in a sense the ending of a book I love. But then I was able to get back to this one and was pulled in and really enjoyed The Rosie Project.
(Finished September 7, 2016)
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