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Life as Jamie Knows It

An Exceptional Child Grows Up

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Life as Jamie Knows It

Written by: Michael Bérubé
Narrated by: Brian Roberts
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About this listen

The story of Jamie Bérubé's journey to adulthood and a meditation on disability in American life.

Published in 1996, Life as We Know It introduced Jamie Bérubé to the world as a sweet, bright, gregarious little boy who loves The Beatles, pizza, and making lists. At four he is like many young people his age, but his Down syndrome leads most people to see him only in terms of his disability.

Twenty years later Jamie is no longer little, though he still loves The Beatles, pizza, and making lists. In Life as Jamie Knows It, Michael Bérubé chronicles his son's growth and his growing love of the world, writing as both a disability studies scholar and as a father. He follows Jamie through the transitions within his family and home life, through his school years, through the complicated process of entering the workforce with a disability. In a book that joins stirring memoir and sharp philosophical inquiry, Bérubé guides us through the labyrinth of ethical issues surrounding how we approach disability and uses Jamie's story to argue for a deeper understanding of disability that challenges us to move toward a more just, more inclusive society.

©2016 Michael Bérubé (P)2016 Random House Audio Biographies & Memoirs Education Social Sciences
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What the critics say

"While the author clearly paints the life of an adult with Down syndrome as one hinging on the compassion and understanding of others, he also paints Jamie's experience and immersion into the world as a story of triumph, bravery, independence, and great self-awareness. An inspiring family scrapbook offering hopeful reinforcement for parents in similar situations." ( Kirkus Reviews)
"In brilliantly illuminating prose, Michael Bérubé's joyful and heartfelt book about his son, Jamie, describes with grace and passion the humanity that we all share, no matter how many chromosomes we possess." (Marianne Leone, author of Jesse: A Mother's Story)
"Twenty years after Life as We Know It - his groundbreaking memoir of raising a son with Down syndrome - Michael Bérubé's Life as Jamie Knows It resumes the story with verve. Bérubé's narrative is loving, unsentimental, and sharply funny, and his insights into disability are unmatched. A necessary book." (George Estreich, author of The Shape of the Eye)

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