by Allen Shawn. Faced with a continually replenishing wave of memoirs, one can feel lost in the deluge. Which titles stand out, when you've got nine different memoirs on the same subject? Happily, librarians can recommend Twin to all memoir enthusiasts, and, of course, those who read Shawn's previous title, Wish I Could Be There (2007), in which he skillfully dissected his phobias and other mental-health issues but left questions in the reader's mind about his mentally disabled twin sister. Here he delves deeper into his own psyche and what he refers to as contradictions, piecing together the role of a sister with autism in his life a twin, with all of the closeness associated with twins, and yet with a stark separation, as she left their home at age eight, permanently, for a residential treatment facility. Shawn's moving work brings us closer to understanding a diagnosis that, by its nature, challenges family bonds. --Booklist
(Check Catalog)
