Nine Minds

A Waterstones Best Popular Science Book of 2024 Pick - from the bestselling author of BORN ON A BLUE DAY and THINKING IN NUMBERSA Japanese researcher in psychology sets out to measure loneliness while drawing on her own experience of autism. A quirky boy growing up in 1950s Ottawa sows the seeds of his future Hollywood stardom. In the US, a non-verbal man explores body language, gesture by eloquent gesture, in his mother's yoga classes. Nine Minds delves into the extraordinary lives of nine neurodivergent men and women from around the globe. From a Fields Medal-winning mathematician to a murder detective, a pioneering surgeon to a bestselling novelist, each is remarkable in their field, and each is changing how the world sees those on the spectrum.Exploding the tired stereotypes of autism, Daniel Tammet - acclaimed author and an autistic savant himself - reaches across the divides of age, gender, sexuality and nationality to draw out the inner worlds of his subjects. Telling stories as richly diverse as the spectrum itself, this illuminating, life-affirming work of narrative nonfiction celebrates the power and beauty of the neurodivergent mind, and the daring freedom with which these individuals have built their lives.

'Tammet's books about words and numbers are bursting with feeling and possibility ... [and] in telling the fictionalised tales of nine real, well-known autistic people, he demolishes the autism myths that originated with medics around 90 years ago and [has since] migrated to the public imagination' - Helen Brown

'A celebration of the gifts and talents of autistic people refutes the idea that autism and empathy cannot coexist' - Guardian

'Over two decades Daniel Tammet has narrated the neurodivergent experience and in his deeply researched Nine Minds he breaks new ground, turning a novelistic eye to autistic lives as compelling as any in fiction. The result is a book as beautiful as the minds it portrays' - Amy Tan, author of THE JOY LUCK CLUB

'Beautifully rendered, painstakingly researched, and completely absorbing, Nine Minds offers something that autistic people urgently need: it humanises us' - Katherine May, author of WINTERING and ENCHANTMENT

'A study of remarkable people on the spectrum and their dazzling accomplishments. Written with insight, generosity, compassion and narrative energy, Tammet's exquisite portraits remind us that the variety of brains is every bit as essential as any other form of diversity that sustains the planet' - Andrew Solomon, author of FAR FROM THE TREE

Daniel Tammet is the subject of the award-winning television documentary, The Boy with the Incredible Brain, as well as a BBC Radio 4 documentary, Two Poets (with Les Murray) and the Kate Bush song, Pi. He is the author of nine books, including the memoir Born on a Blue Day. His writing has appeared in Esquire, The Times Literary Supplement, The Guardian, Aeon and Quadrant, and his books have been translated into thirty languages. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2012, and awarded an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, The Open University, in 2023. Daniel Tammet lives in Paris.

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