Bastian – A Very Special Family History
At some point it’s just normal
He doesn’t play, doesn’t listen, doesn’t talk and bangs his head against the wall whenever something upsets him. He pushes beans into his ears, refuses to use the toilet, drinks litres of Coke and coffee and eats cigarette butts. He avoids eye contact, but he does sometimes ask for a hug. Bastian lives in his own world. He is autistic. Unsentimental and yet deeply moving, ‘Bastian’ is the story of Sascha Lehnartz’s little brother. Lehnartz explains how Bastian became the pivotal point of his family’s life (even as he pushed them to their limits). It testifies to how on the surface he held them together until his death, but inwardly was tearing them apart. An intelligent meditation on the demands life makes on us, and on what it means to be human.
- An exceptional insight into the world of autism
- A brilliantly told family story: incisive, unsentimental and heart-warming
- For readers of Arno Geiger's "Der alte König in seinem Exil"
Sascha Lehnartz, born in Remscheid in 1969, studied Literature in Paris, Berlin, Santa Barbara and New York, eventually completing his PhD at Columbia University. He has worked for the Frankfurter Allgemeinen Sonntagszeitung and the Süddeutschen Zeitung. He was correspondent for Die Welt in Paris and also ran the foreign affairs desk. His book ‘Global Players: Why We’ve Stopped Growing Up’ was published in 2005, followed by ‘Among the Gauls: Life in Paris’ in 2011.
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