Eli Gottlieb

The Boy Who Went Away Eli Gottlieb

Marc Notes: Originally published: London: Jonathan Cape, 1997.; Set in 1967, this first novel is an eloquent portrait of a family besieged by the burdens of human intimacy recording the passing into adolescence of Denny Graubart, and his relationship with his autistic brother, Fad. Publisher Marketing: Denny Graubart, child-narrator and domestic surveillance expert, is having some terrible suspicions about his mother and autistic brother. It s the 1960s, aka the Diagnostic Dark Ages of Autism, and while his mother struggles to keep his brother out of an institution, signs of something more disturbing are beginning to emerge before young Denny s eyes. Battered by his own tragicomic sexual awakening during a long, hot summer, Denny will eventually find his most horrified suspicions about his family confirmed. A powerfully drawn portrait of two brothers locked into an asymmetrical childhood and a family struggling against a weight of medical ignorance, The Boy Who Went Away is shockingly, electrically alive (Phillip Lopate). It is also an indispensable bookend to Gottlieb s Best Boy, which recounts the impact of autism on the same family from the other side, many years later, in the voice of a middle-aged autistic man." Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 11/01/1996 pg. 1552 (EAN 9780312150709, Hardcover) Publishers Weekly 11/18/1996 pg. 63 (EAN 9780312150709, Hardcover) - *Starred Review Booklist 12/15/1996 pg. 708 (EAN 9780312150709, Hardcover) Library Journal 12/01/1996 pg. 145 (EAN 9780312150709, Hardcover) New York Times 02/16/1997 pg. 16 (EAN 9780312150709, Hardcover) School Library Journal 05/01/1997 pg. 164 (EAN 9780312150709, Hardcover) New York Times 06/01/1997 pg. 34 (EAN 9780312150709, Hardcover) NY Times Notable Bks of Year 01/01/1997 pg. 58 (EAN 9780312150709, Hardcover) NY Times Notable Bks of Year 01/01/1998 pg. 58 (EAN 9780312150709, Hardcover) Contributor Bio:  Gottlieb, Eli Eli Gottlieb is the author of Best Boy, among other novels. His works have been translated into a dozen languages. He lives in New York City.