{"id":64110,"date":"2015-11-03T03:54:45","date_gmt":"2015-11-03T09:54:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=64110"},"modified":"2015-11-03T03:54:45","modified_gmt":"2015-11-03T09:54:45","slug":"steve-silbermans-autism-exploration-neurotribes-wins-samuel-johnson-prize-for-nonfiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2015\/11\/03\/steve-silbermans-autism-exploration-neurotribes-wins-samuel-johnson-prize-for-nonfiction\/","title":{"rendered":"Steve Silberman’s autism exploration ‘Neurotribes’ wins Samuel Johnson prize for nonfiction"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"(Photo<\/a>
(Photo from Steve Silberman’s Official Website<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LONDON\u2014A book that challenges readers to think differently about autism has won Britain’s leading literary award for nonfiction.<\/p>\n

U.S. writer Steve Silberman\u2019s \u201cNeurotribes\u201d was awarded the 20,000 pound ($31,000) Samuel Johnson Prize at a ceremony in London Monday.<\/p>\n

It is the first science book to take the prize, founded in 1999 and usually dominated by history and biography.<\/p>\n

Silberman, a reporter for Wired magazine, explores the history of autism as a recognized condition, and the many mysteries that still surround it\u2014including why its occurrence appears to have skyrocketed. He also looks at the modern \u201cneurodiversity\u201d movement that seeks to recognize, accept and celebrate people with cognitive differences.<\/p>\n

Historian Anne Applebaum, who chaired the judging panel, said Silberman blended popular science, history and journalism in a book that ranges from the science of the brain to \u201cthe impact of the movie ‘Rain Man’ on popular culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt an unusual, genre-breaking kind of book, and also a book that’s very deeply motivated by a set of ideals,\u201d Applebaum said. \u201cIt’s an argument about autism and how we should see it as a different way of thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Silberman beat five other finalists, including Laurence Scott’s look at humanity in the cyber-era, \u201cThe Four-Dimensional Human,\u201d and Samanth Subramanian’s account of Sri Lanka’s civil war, \u201cThis Divided Island.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also shortlisted were Jonathan Bate’s poet biography \u201cTed Hughes: The Unauthorized Life\u201d; Robert Macfarlane’s literary nature tour “Landmarks”; and Emma Sky\u2019s war memoir \u201cThe Unravelling: High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq.\u201d<\/p>\n

Named for the 18th-century essayist and lexicographer, the Samuel Johnson Prize recognizes English-language books from any country in the areas of current affairs, history, politics, science, sport, travel, biography, autobiography and the arts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LONDON\u2014A book that challenges readers to think differently about autism has won Britain’s leading literary award for nonfiction. U.S. writer …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":64112,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[35],"class_list":["post-64110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lifestyle","tag-original","mauthors-jill-lawless","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}