Know the night
Subtitle: a memoir of survival in the small hours
By: Maria Mutch
Edition: First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2014
Language: eng
Number of pages: 205
ISBN-13: 9781476702742; 9781476702759; 9781476702766; 9780307363374
Subjects: Books and reading; Mothers and sons; Psychological aspects; Down syndrome; Insomnia; Biography
Description: "In this soul-stirring debut memoir, Maria Mutch explores the miraculous power that care and communication have in the face of the deep, personal isolation that often comes with disability. A chronicle of the witching hours between midnight and six a.m., this meditative book takes place during the two-year period in which Mutch's son Gabriel, who is autistic and also has Down syndrome, rarely slept through the night. In this tapestry composed of interwoven memories, we see both Gabriel's difficult childhood and Maria's introduction to the world of multiple disability parenting. As a counterpoint to Gabriel's figurative isolation is the story of Admiral Richard Byrd, the polar explorer who journeyed alone into the Antarctic wilderness in the 1930s. His story creates a shared and powerful language for the experience of feeling alone. In these three characters--mother, son, and explorer--Mutch reveals overlapping and layered themes of solitude that, far from driving us apart, enlighten, uplift, and connect."--Publisher description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (page 202).