Broken Cord (Paperback)

by Michael Dorris (Author) "I sat in the lobby of the Pierre airport, waiting..." (more)
Key Phrases: maternal drinking, fetal alcohol syndrome, fetal alcohol effect, Pine Ridge, South Dakota, Native American (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
When Michael Dorris, 26, single, working on his doctorate, and part Indian himself, applied to adopt an Indian child, his request was speedily granted. He knew that his new three-year-old son, Adam, was badly developmentally disabled; but he believed in the power of nurture and love. This is the heartrending story, full of compassion and rage, of how his son grew up mentally retarded, a victim of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome whom no amount of love could make whole. The volume includes a short account of his own life by the 20-year-old Adam, and a foreword by Dorris' wife, the writer Louise Erdrich. The Broken Cord won a National Book Critics Circle Award in 1989.

Review
"As passionate as it is fierce. Intensely personal and moving beyond belief..." -- --Alice Hoffman, author of At Risk

The Broken Cord should be required reading for all medical professionals and social workers, and especially for pregnant women, and women who contemplate pregnancy, who may be tempted to drink. -- The New York Times Book Review, Patricia Guthrie

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (October 12, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060916826
• ISBN-13: 978-0060916824
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #118,845 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The story of a father and son, September 3, 2002

By	Ronald Scheer "rockysquirrel" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

It would be a shame if the circumstances surrounding the author's death cast a shadow over this fine book, because it is beautifully written, deeply felt, and a devastating account of the impact of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) among Native Americans.

Michael Dorris, a young unmarried college teacher and writer, adopts a Native American boy "Adam" whose developmental problems, he believes, are the result of poor nutrition, poor health care, and lack of proper parenting. In time, however, he discovers that Adam was born with FAS, a condition Dorris knows very little about. Believing that proper care can reverse the effects of FAS, he takes on the daunting and nearly futile task of helping Adam achieve a "normal" boyhood. The damage done, it turns out, is irreversible; Adam is almost maddeningly unable to learn simple tasks and responsibilities. FAS-related health problems, including seizures, often turn merely difficult days and nights into nightmares for the single father.

The book Dorris writes is meant as an eye-opener for readers who are unaware of the potential harm in consuming alcohol during pregnancy. Given naturally to research and study, he shares with the reader much of what he learns about FAS and the Native American culture that has had such a fatal connection with alcohol. To that extent, this is almost a textbook on the subject.

But this is also the story of a father and son, and most poignant, for this reader, is the relationship between them that is a thread throughout the book. Dorris never surrenders to the barriers that exist between him and his son. Having taken responsibility for Adam, he gives his all to making even the smallest difference in the boy's life. It's a heroic effort and often heartbreaking.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Powerful, but not recommended as intro. to FAS, August 27, 1999

By	Colleen M. McDonald (Rockford, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Broken Cord (Turtleback)

This is a vivid and moving account of a father's initiation into (single) parenthood and the rigorous journey of seeing a handicapped child into adulthood. It is both laugh-out-loud funny and profoundly sad. This book works best on the level of personal story-- what it means to live with a child who will never be normal, as you both fear and deny the reality that your kid is handicapped. (As the adoptive mother of a girl who has a constellation of emotional and psychological problems, but with no definitive cause, I could relate to Dorris' experience.) For me, the book bogged down in Dorris' lengthy research findings pertaining to FAS and its impact on native american communities. Dorris adopted his son, Adam, with no forewarning of Adam's FAS diagnosis and wrote the book during the early days of FAS research. Therefore, this info. was groundbreaking at the time of the book's publication, but it is dated today. Because this book is the story of only one individual-- one who was extremely handicapped by his condition-- it paints a pretty depressing picture of FAS, and the book is NOT one I would recommend first to anyone who had just taken on the responsibility of raising a child with FAS or FAE. There are more ways to treat and support individuals with FAS/FAE than were available when Dorris was raising Adam, and foster and adoptive parents of FAS/FAE children need to be pointed to resources that give them a broader view of the possibilities for their youngsters.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HEIGHTENED AWARENESS, August 2, 2000

By	BeatleBangs1964 (United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

I first read this book in early 1990. Prior to reading this book, I did not know about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome/Effect (FAS/FAE). Mr. Dorris gives a good overview of this tragic condition and his references throughout this book certainly augment the points he makes. I like the lyrical tone Abel's (called "Adam" in the book) story takes when the author includes references to nature and natural phenomena. This book is also culturally enriching by providing glimpses of Native American traditions, e.g. Adam's naming ceremony and the gatherings the Dorris family takes later in the book.

Two things saddened me deeply about this book in addition to Adam's congenital condition. The author was involved in a very unfortunate controversy and committed suicide a few years ago. Adam was run over by a car and killed. It made for a very tragic postcript to the lives of the Dorris family and to all those who cared about them personally.