J. Yuri Young

Passionately curious

Revisado: 11-16-21

I wrote my first review based on the "Special Interests" episode and late at night. Having listened to more now, I still mostly like the podcast for mostly being from an autistic point of view but there are also things that are problematic. "Aspergers" is a highly controversial term in the autistic community for one, and saying "high functioning" is considered by many in our community to be ablist and marginalizing. Guessing that currently alive people may be autistic is also frowned on, so that part of one episode made me really uncomfortable.

That said there is a lot I like about the podcast. I like that the host brings up faulty logic in how neurotypicals, especially professional psychologists, talk about us. The host brought up more current research that actually autistic people communicate with other autistic people just fine, and that NTs have just as much trouble understanding us as we have understanding them - so are NTs flawed in their ability to communicate and understand others, if we are considered so?

For the most part, the host uses autistic experience as the basis and frame of reference, which is refreshing, rare and sorely needed.


My original review:

Great episode and a lot of what I've been thinking of the circumscribed term "special interest". Excellent reframing of a pathologizing view to an empowering one, and from an #actuallyautistic viewpoint of what it means to have this particular autistic trait

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Absolutely fantastic book, compliments youtube

Revisado: 03-27-19

If you have or are planning on getting a dog or puppy, this is a fantastic book! I listened to it over and over as it was so jam packed with information, yet it was an enjoyable and engaging listen. Zak is dynamic and interesting, as well as incredibly knowledgeable. So far everything we have done according to his book is working wonderfully. Not only that, but I am actually teaching my cat to sit on command, based on his methods! She is almost there. Our boy cat has been able to sit for years, but our girl cat could never figure it out. Using Zac's methods, she is figuring it out! He doesn't go in depth into the science of why to do these techniques, but there is a LOT of science backing up his methods. The book is a good compliment to his youtube channel. On video you can see the techniques, but the book presents the information in a more systematized way. Highly recommend!

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

Awful narration, ho hum stories

Revisado: 03-26-19

I am a passionate knitter. I love knitting and I knit every day. I am also a passionate reader, and read or listen to books every day. You would think this would be the perfect book for me. Unfortunately the male narrator was so poor I felt like I was stuck in a really bad spoken word event, where everything is given equal emphasis (way too much) and all the sentences end by going up in pitch. It was a horrible pairing with authors who write extreme run on and stream of consciousness sentences. The writing was too avant-garde, with poor story structure - you can only pull this off if you are really really good, which these writers were not (at least the ones in the beginning because I couldn't get very far in the book). I should have found the story by Barbara Kingsolver before I returned it, but I didn't have the heart. The female narrator was mildly better, but still so monotonous overall that I couldn't really tell one story from another, they were all read in the same way. I had mixed feelings about posting this negative review, but I rely on reviews to guide me in my book choices and felt I owed it to other readers to share my experience in case anyone might find it useful.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Great story, great narration

Revisado: 12-06-18

I saw the movie first and loved it. I wasn't sure if the book would hold up (even though I generally think books are better than their movie version) because I liked the movie so much. The book was just as great, in its own way and the narration was fantastic. I love science, but you don't actually need to know anything about science to enjoy the story. You do, however, have to like dry, smart ass, clever humor (or at least tolerate it). The humor is really well done, keeping things light enough and engaging enough to go on with the repeats of mars-is-trying-to-kill-me. It's pretty much smart ass MacGyver in space. Awesome.

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Delightful yarn, to listen to over and over

Revisado: 11-02-18

I love this book! Read excellently by the author she makes me giggle, nod, and occasionally shout yes! I bought this as a newbie knitter, and as I progress in my knitting I agree with more and more of it! Highly recommended and deeply enjoyable

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Mediocre radio dramatization not audio book

Revisado: 12-12-17

I love English literature, the BBC and the movie of Cold Comfort Farm so I thought I'd love this, but I couldn't get more than halfway through. The enunciation was often so poor I couldn't understand what was being said (and I'm good with accents of all sorts, especially English ones as my mother is from England). The sound levels were so poor that the sounds effects were often significantly louder than the actors, to the point it was painfully loud. There were quite a few "setting the scene" moments that went way longer than necessary, so long it took me right out of the story. If you really like radio dramatizations, you might like this, but I was so disappointed I returned it within 24 hours.

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esto le resultó útil a 7 personas

Favorite of the Circle Books

Revisado: 11-15-17

Fantastic heartwarming story of friendship and self identity, decent performance, strong female characters. I frequently listen as a recurring "comfort read".

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Fascinating story!

Revisado: 09-06-16

Any additional comments?

Amazing story that definitely deserves to be told! Also looking forward to the upcoming movie based on it

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esto le resultó útil a 16 personas