3.5/5 ( )

Indiespensable autographed paperback reissue.

Excellent novel, chronicling the summer the narrator's older brother was institutionalized with what we now recognize as autism. Only four stars due to the child narrator, to which I can never properly adjust. ( )

Young Denny has a mentally disabled older brother James, or Fad, his mother is determined to keep Fad at home, but the medical experts seem intent on putting him in a home. Denny tells of the events of the three months that leading up to that decision.

Fad is the centre of his mothers life, and with a rather distant father who is a little too fond of his drink, Denny is often on the sidelines, and he devotes his time to keeping detailed records of his family: his father's drinking, his mother's supposed affair with Fad's doctor., and Fad's progress in his lessons with his mother. Listening in on phone calls, opening mail and observations through his telescope are just a few of his methods, and he has the sometime misguided help of his slightly older friend Derwent.

Wickedly funny yet not lacking compassion, Denny's account of the proceedings does not neglect his own sometimes mean behaviour towards his brother or other dubious activities. The Boy Who Went Away is a touching, sad yet entertaining read. ( )