This book which apparently differs greatly from anything else this author has written tells the story of a middle-aging man Lou who suffers from autism. The point of this book is not necessarily that he suffers though: he holds down a good job in analysing patterns, he attends fencing classes once a week and has a love interest and he associates with other autistic people who also work with him. The trouble comes when a boss at his company tries to force the employees into a new treatment which is said to have reversed autism in apes.
Up until this moment, Lou's place of work has created an environment which suits the needs of its employees. They have their own private gym and are not expected to interact too much with those who they call 'normal' people. One of the amazing lessons of this book is what constitutes being normal and how Lou discovers through his studies that he is relatively more normal than anyone thinks. Despite this he still faces difficulties in tasks that he thinks other people have no difficulty with; going through airport security, purchasing dinner and changing his stringent routine which sees him arrange his week with different tasks on each day.
This book is set in the near-future. A cure for autism in fetus development has been found and Lou and his colleagues are some of the youngest people who were born too early to take advantage of the treatment. Chips can also be implanted in people's brains to prevent criminal behaviour shunning the need for jails. Lou finds himself questioning what exactly the speed of dark is and this comes in at the end when he tries to decide if he wants change and what he is willing to sacrifice to follow his dreams.
I don't feel this review has done the book justice, I absolutely loved it and would recommend it far and wide.
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