Nobody Nowhere: the Extraordinary Autobiography of an Autistic [Paperback]

Donna Williams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1994

"This is a story of two battles, a battle to keep out 'the world' and a battle to join it."

She inhabits a place of chaos, cacophony, and dancing light--where physical contact is painful and sights and sounds have no meaning. Although labeled, at times, deaf, retarded, or disturbed, Donna Williams is autistic--afflicted by a baffling condition of heightened sensory perception that imprisons the sufferer in a private, almost hallucinatory universe of patterns and colors. Nobody Nowhere is Donna's story in her own words--a haunting, courageous memoir of the titanic struggles she has endured in her quest to merge "my world" with "the world."

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Victims of the complex, much-misunderstood and professionally baffling disease of autism will find an eloquent voice in Australian-born Williams, one of its victorious survivors. After 25 years, this daughter of abusive parents, shunted from school to school, began to emerge from a private, protective, hallucinatory world in which she was inhabitated by multiple personalities. Here Williams recounts how she learned to communicate and live with others. Inspired by an empathetic therapist, and determined to "take herself apart and put herself back together," Williams resumed schooling, graduating from college with honors. While she will always be autistic, her moving memoir and clear analysis of the nature of her illness shows how she was able to transcend it at least partially. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Williams is a young Australian woman who has overcome enormous handicaps in order to function in the world. As auto biography or literature, her book is indeed a satisfactory guide to understanding the autistic experience. However, Williams's family is so dysfunctional--impoverished, abusive, and negligent--that it is difficult to sort out which of her problems are due to the autism and which stem from other factors. Consequently, Judy and Sean Bar ron's There's a Boy in Here (LJ 2/1/92), jointly written by an autistic and his mother, is a better choice for most librar ies as a source illuminating the world of autistic people and their families.
-Mary Ann Hughes, Washington State Univ. Libs., Pullman
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 219 pages
• Publisher: Avon; 1 edition (February 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380722178
• ISBN-13: 978-0380722174
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #231,143 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Demystifying autism, February 16, 2000

By 

Hired Pen (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nobody Nowhere: the Extraordinary Autobiography of an Autistic (Paperback)

Donna Williams' Nobody Nowhere is the Rosetta stone of autism. The author is an autistic herself, and her autobiography gives you a very good idea of what it would be like to be in her skin. She gives plausible explanations for common autistic behaviors, and offers some fasincating hypotheses for causes and contributing factors for this syndrome. And she offers advice on how to communicate with an autistic person with respect and without overwhelming them.

This book is an invaluable resource for parents, siblings, and doctors of autistic people. But it has found a much wider audience, with good reason. Nobody Nowhere is a gripping tale, related in an honest and straightforward manner. It is the story of one woman's triumph over what fate has handed her, and her determination to move beyond her handicaps. You cannot help but be moved by her story, and inspired by her courage and determination.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book made me feel "normal" for the first time., October 7, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Nobody Nowhere: the Extraordinary Autobiography of an Autistic (Paperback)

In "Nobody Nowhere", Donna Williams details what it is like to grow up autistic and the price one pays for being "high-functioning." She describes sensory experiences like overload and seeing floating spots and wisps in the air. She also describes the "faces" she had to put on in order to relate to the world. This book made my whole life up to this point make sense for the first time. I had not known that many of these sensory experiences were different from those of other people. This is a very important book, both for people who have autism and related problems and for those who know them or might meet them.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nobody Nowhere, April 3, 2000

By 

Linda M. Dean (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nobody Nowhere: the Extraordinary Autobiography of an Autistic (Paperback)

I am the grandparent of an autistic child and found this book so helpful I would recommend that it be made mandatory reading for all professionals who work with autistic persons. I would also strongly urge all others who have autistic persons in their lives to read it. The book has given me insight regarding my grandson's behavior and suggestions of ways to help him. Until experts and their research can provide explanations and perhaps cures for autism, the lived experience of an autistic person, such as Donna Williams provides in her books, is the best help available for those of us who care about and relate to an autistic person.