Love Anthony

By: Lisa Genova

Narrated by: Debra Messing

Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

From the award-winning New York Times best-selling author of Still Alice and Left Neglected, comes a heartfelt novel about an accidental friendship that gives a grieving mother a priceless gift: the ability to understand the thoughts of her eight-year-old autistic son and make sense of his brief life.

Two women, each cast adrift by unforseen events in their lives, meet by accident on a Nantucket beach and are drawn into a friendship.

Olivia is a young mother whose eight-year-old severely autistic son has recently died. Her marriage badly frayed by years of stress, she comes to the island in a trial separation to try and make sense of the tragedy of her Anthony's short life.

Beth, a stay-at-home mother of three, is also recently separated after discovering her husband’s long-term infidelity. In an attempt to recapture a sense of her pre-married life, she rekindles her passion for writing, determined to find her own voice again. But surprisingly, as she does so, Beth also find herself channeling the voice of an unknown boy, exuberant in his perceptions of the world around him if autistic in his expression - a voice she can share with Olivia - is it Anthony?) - that brings comfort and meaning to them both.

©2012 Lisa Genova (P)2012 Simon & Schuster Audio

Hit home

As a mother of a 17 year old boy with autism, this book could have been my life. I have lived the same experiences, emotions, guilt and happiness as this mother. This is the first book I have read where the boy is given real feelings and not portrayed like a robot. My son is sweet and innocent and loving and such a gift. I have learned so much from him. am so grateful to Lisa Genova for writing this wonderful, touching, realistic story. Thank you!

Love you too!

This is one of those books that stay with you for a long time. I almost gave up on it, and then WHAM, I was hooked.

Perfect

From a mother of three children, one being severely autistic, the author’s message was dead on. She captured so perfectly the emotions of both a mother/wife with an autistic son and one with marital problems. She helped me look at my son through different eyes. We never really know what children on the spectrum are thinking. The emotional battles for acceptance for all can be over bearing during those younger years. Eventually they do get better! I’d like to think that all special needs children have more to offer then what they can show in a ‘typical’ fashion. This was a great book for me and am thankful that I found it. Good listen for all!!

Phenomenal Book - Loved it!!

Love it!!! Phenomenal book!! One of the best books I’ve ever read (or listened to)!!!! Just read it, that’s it, you will have missed something if you don’t. This was an audible book and Debra Messing is a phenomenal narrator, luckily my internet went down today, so I couldn’t work, I put on my bluetooth headset and spent the day with this absolutely awesome book. This one goes right to the top of my top 10 most favorite literary fiction books read ever, up there with When Crickets Cry and See You.
I cannot give enough praise to this story, it is so touching and heartfelt. The writing is beautiful, the story is beautiful. The ending was one of the best I have ever read, ever, and I read a lot. I have also read multiple books on autism but none of them have explained it like this from the child’s point of view. This book is not just about autism though, it is about so much more, it is about endings, beginnings, forgiving, love, loss, humor, and life. It had me hooked from the very first chapter. I loved Olivia and Beth, they made me outright laugh out loud and then cry. I was so tickled so many times, the conversation on the get back theory for adultery was hilarious. I loved the way it went thru plain normal life.
This book is so far about 5*****’s. I will recommend it to everyone I know that reads.

new perspective

great read. changed my attitude about how people perceive autism. Lisa Genova has interesting insights on most of the books she has written

Amazing and Beautiful

I had heard about this book called Love Anthony from many of my colleagues. I am a Child and Youth Worker who works with Adults with Autism as well as a developmental disability. All of them said you have GOT to read this book.
They were all 100% right! I loved this book, every page of it!
My most memorable moment was when Anthony was frustrated when there were only two French Toast sticks instead of 3. When he explained why only 2 French toast sticks were not going to work is when I truly began to understand.
Debra Messing's performance was outstanding.
Lisa, I also read Still Alice and can't wait to see the movie when it finally comes to DVD and I will be thrilled if Love Anthony makes it to the big screen.

Unconditional love is a great message

If you could sum up Love Anthony in three words, what would they be?

Love conquers all.

Any additional comments?

Compelling story of an autistic boy named Anthony who sadly passes away at a young age, but what he teaches his mom and even a complete stranger, as well as many others, is that we are all put here on this earth to love and be loved UNCONDITIONALLY.

This was a very insightful book about a subject that I wasn't well versed on. I found it to be very informative and one of the key points that I will always remember is how we all have autistic tendencies. We should all think of a scale for autism and that we are all placed somewhere on that scale. I think this is a great way to view the world and it would strongly decrease the amount of judgment the world produces if we not only thought this way for autism, but for any other medical issue or life issue in general.

I only gave this book 4 stars because the beginning-middle was quite hard for me to really connect with, but the ending makes up for any lack of connection I experienced.

Lisa Genova is THE BEST author on these sensitive subjects such as autism, HD, and Alzheimers.

A Must Listen!

Lisa Genova has quickly become a favorite. I was mesmerized by Still Alice so decided to read another of her books. I chose Love, Anthony because I have loved many people living with autism in my personal and professional life. Lisa Genova has a way of sharing life from inside the minds of people most of us don't understand, helping us connect to not only the characters in her books but also leaving the reader with a new perspective and compassion for people who aren't able to express themselves in a "typical" way. I laughed, I cried, I experienced being the sky. Debra Messing delivers a great narration.

Heart-wrenching story of a boy with autism

Lisa Genova has demonstrated her ability to share the challenges of people with diseases and the impact on their families in a fictionalized format in this book and the others she has written such as Still Alice. I personally liked that one slightly better than Love Anthony, I thought the amount of time devoted to Anthony expressing himself a little more than necessary to understand his autism but in general the book does an excellent job of portraying the life of an afflicted child. I look forward to reading more books by this talented author.

Loved it!

I listened to this book while recovering from surgery. I couldn't stop listening and finished it in one day. Excellent writing, story and performance.