I was born on January 31, 1979—a Wednesday. I know it was a Wednesday, because the date is blue in my mind and Wednesdays are always blue, like the number 9 or the sound of loud voices arguing.
Daniel Tammet’s memoir is unlike any other you’re likely to read. He speaks ten world languages and created another. He holds the European record for memorizing the digits in Pi (to 22,514 digits). He also has synesthesia, a blending of the senses that, in his case, imbues numbers and words with shapes and colors. On the flip side, he cannot navigate a subway or start his day without a precisely measured quantity of oatmeal and a meticulous count of the clothes on his back. Nicknamed Brainman for his affinity to the Dustin Hoffman character in Rain Man, Tammet is an autistic savant, albeit a high-functioning one who has attained great professional and personal success in the great and scary world.
This first of several literary titles by him, praised by Booklist magazine for “the clearest prose this side of Hemingway”, is an honest glimpse into the beautiful mind of a tender soul misunderstood by all but his loving and patient parents—an anxious child who calms himself with counting and combs the library for the book with his name on the spine because he believes there is one for each of us somewhere in the collection.
Because Tammet’s condition is seven times more common in creative people than in the general population, his tale will likely resonate with that of someone you know and love. At 226 pages of straightforward narrative, this 2006 breakout title is an engrossing story you will devour in a weekend and recommend to all your friends. Here’s a snippet from his interview with David Letterman, which aired in the run-up to the one-hour Brainman documentary.