Born on a Blue Day

A Memoir

By: Daniel Tammet

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

One of the world's 50 living autistic savants is the first and only to tell his compelling and inspiring life story and explain how his incredible mind works.

Worldwide, there are fewer than 50 living savants, those autistic individuals who can perform miraculous mental calculations or artistic feats. (Think Dustin Hoffman's character in Rain Man.) Until now, none of them has been able to discuss his or her thought processes, much less write a book. Daniel Tammet is the first.

Tammet's problems were apparent from childhood. He was shunned by his classmates and often resorted to rocking and humming quietly. Yet he could memorize almost anything, and his math and language skills were astonishing. By high school, Daniel was diagnosed as autistic, and he began to discover his own superhuman abilities: calculating huge sums in his head in seconds, learning new languages in one week, and memorizing more than 22,000 digits of pi.

With heart-melting simplicity and astonishing self-awareness, Born on a Blue Day tells Daniel's story: from his childhood frustrations to adult triumphs, while explaining how his mind works. He thinks in pictures. He sees numbers as complex shapes: 37 is lumpy like porridge; 89 reminds him of falling snow. Today, Daniel has emerged as one of the world's most fascinating minds and inspiring stories. His brain has amazed scientists for years, and everyone will be moved by his remarkable life story.

©2007 Daniel Tammet (P)2007 Tantor Media Inc.

Critic reviews

"[Tanmet's] ability to express himself clearly and with a surprisingly engaging tone (given his symptoms) makes for an account that will intrigue." (Publishers Weekly)

Eye Opening and Inspiring

Daniel was different from the moment he entered the world screaming. For. Over. Two. Years. Any mother of a newborn will tell you that their own child's cry does something to their brain. I can't imagine listening to my child crying almost nonstop for that amount of time and not going crazy myself. Daniel's mother is a saint. The way he describes her and his father is a testament to his understanding of how different he is. For those who say he is self-absorbed, I say you are if you expect someone to live up to your preconceived ideas of an 'entertaining' book about a life filled with rejection and struggle. This is a real person giving you his real view and memories on his life. He is a detail person and the details are part of who he is.

I found this book absolutely riveting from the first sentence to the last. The savant aspects were interesting but, as the mother of a child with Asperger's, it was the parts that described his reactions to social situations, textures, and changes in routine that were really fascinating and insightful. Most autistic people cannot describe their inner thoughts about situations that upset them or cause a meltdown so hearing this gave me all kinds of hope for when my son is older. It brought tears to my eyes and a smile to my face each time Daniel conquered another social norm that most of us take for granted. I wish the best for Daniel and Neil and for his whole family who were instrumental in making Daniel the well-adjusted person he is today.

Such an Interesting Perspective

I really enjoyed this book. The story is at an interesting first-person perceptive not always found on autism.

A Very Interesting Read...

just short of the Temple Grandin books, which are much more involved and penetrating. There are times in the book when the experiences he describes are incredibly mundane, and in a book so short, one expects more of the dynamic and unusual aspects of Tammet's life. Still, a four out of five.

An interesting life

The autistic spectrum is apparent in Daniel's extreme recall of detail-- some judicious editing might have eliminated some of the tedious bits. But, self involvement is part of the spectrum as well as the astounding gifts of the savant. Even understanding that this is the case, one doesn't necessarily want to read what the fellow had for breakfast when it does nothing to inform or
lead us to understanding. But, in all, it is a book about a unique person and a worthwhile read.

Temple Grandin's books on autism are more riveting, without the self-obsessed point of view.

Listen to this book!

I was fascinated by the workings of the mind of an autistic savant and Tammet tells his story with grace and wonder. I laughed and got teary and was amazed at the mental skills. The book is intellectually stimulating as well as emotionally touching. The reader, Simon Vance, gives perfect pitch to Tammet's voice.

It's like some people don't dream in color!

I get it. The idea that words and numbers can have shape, color, feelings...I totally get it. When I was young, I didn't like certain numbers. 7, 8, and 9, specifically. But enough about me....

I have a great-nephew who scores on the high end of the autistic spectrom. Although, as I expect all who fall into the autistic spectrum disorder category will say, his experience does not echo Daniel Tammet's, it was helpful to me to gain some understanding of what bright lights, sudden noises, and crowds can feel like. It was reassuring to know that Daniel grew up and learned to deal with the world, that he found a life-partner to share with, that he made it to David Letterman!

And I have yet to listen to a book narrated by Simon Vance that I haven't enjoyed!

Eternally valuable insight!

This is such a beautiful glimpse into the mind of someone with autism. This will help me understand and relate in a new way with my nephew who is autistic.

Excellent Read

This is my all-time favorite audiobook, and has been for years. Not only are the performance and writing excellent, but the content of the memoir is amazing. It is marvelous to hear Daniel's story: how he grew up in a wonderfully loving family, how he gradually discovered just how differently he perceived the world than others do, how he learned to work around his difficulties to establish fulfilling relationships and accomplish incredible things. Congratulations, Daniel!

Informative and Interesting

4/5: This book was such a great resource for me in better understanding the neurodivergent brain. Tammet has autism and is considered a savant (i.e. Rainman) yet, despite living in a world not geared for how his brain is wired, he has navigated life in a highly successful way. Tammet shares about his childhood and how his particular fixations showed up and how he learned to handle them when others might not fully understand. There were definitely parts that were very specific and focused on numbers which was not enjoyable for me on one hand but illustrated well how my brain is wired very differently than Tammet's (and on a bigger scale how neurotypical brains and neurodivergent ones differ) so I appreciated those parts. I also appreciated that Tammet told his story in a very linear and clear way so I could see how he developed as a human over the course of his life. I definitely have great respect for his parents (who have eight other siblings), another of whom has autism as well. I particularly enjoyed the parts on synesthesia and that he indicated most of us have some variations of this (which I definitely do); his descriptions of his associations and why they made sense to him were fascinating and made a lot of sense in the way he described them. The gem of this book, however, is that Tammet shares how he came to find love, how he navigates that with his partner and how he became a Christian - both of which are often rarities for individuals with autism at Tammet's level. Those two dynamics of his story/being made this so much more than just a peek into an autistic brain and enriched the book.

Slow, very slow!

The first couple hours of the book were pretty dry, as the author goes into excruciating detail of his childhood, (which I was surprised to learn was not that eventful or interesting). However, his adult life is somewhat fascinating. I had to skip some chapters of the cd of his early years. Also, the cd's are not divided up well at all. The cd will end in mid-sentence.