Paul Collins (1) (1969–)

"Apparently we have been walking around with the genetic equivalen of a KICK ME sign..."

This is one of the best quotes in the book to me. Probable because I can relate.

It's hard to give an objective review to a book that hits so close to home in many ways. It's a wonderful description of one child with autism. Some things mirrored my own experience as a parent of a son with an autism spectrum disorder. Some did not. The historical chapters were interesting, but a little too disjointed for my taste.… (mais)

I enjoyed this book (recommended by a friend) but I’m not at all sure how to describe it. It’s not about Tom Paine or his ideas and publications, although there are little bits and pieces about that. It’s more about the insanely peculiar things that happened to his remains after he died. But, it’s not really about that either, it’s more about the various people who had something to do with his remains. Except actually, many of the people in the book had nothing to do with Paine’s remains, they just interacted with other people who did have something to do with the remains, or even a few steps further away from that. And it’s about the author, researching all this madness and visiting the current day locations where some of this stuff happened.

It’s fun to read, there’s lots of weird history involved, some famous people (like Thoreau and Emerson) and some real kooks and oddballs who got involved somehow. Also a lot about phrenology, which evidently was very popular for a while.… (mais)