Without planning for it to be, this week has somehow become devoted to autistic narrators in recent fiction. I'm not sure I can think of another example after today, but I do have one more recommendation in this sub-sub-genre: Marcelo in the Real World.Marcelo is called autistic because the specialists he's seen all his childhood can't think of a better diagnosis. He's really only interested in pursuing activities that fit into his hobbies, and his hobbies narrowly revolve around music. But he's about to graduate from high school and his father wants him to have experience getting along in the real world.
Almost more sheltered than autistic, Marcelo comes of age assisting his father's law firm for the summer. Marcelo's real world matches the real one. Because he views the world through a narrow lens, the dishonesty of some co-workers, sexual appeal of women, and duplicity of his family is a unique revelation to him. Marcelo is a gentle introduction to the thinking of an autistic person, and an interesting one.
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