Nine Minds
Inner Lives on the Spectrum
Daniel Tammet’s Nine Minds is a biographical mosaic of neurodivergence built of stories of individuals whose struggles and achievements defy the clichés surrounding autism.
The book presents autism not as a “disorder” but as a “natural cognitive difference” occurring in 1–2% of the population, spotlighting nine neurodivergent people. These include Canadian actor Dan Aykroyd, Irish novelist Naoise Dolan, and French politician and mathematician Cédric Villani. Hand and wrist surgeon Vaughan Bowen excels at pinpointing the source of his patients’ pain; Amanda Tink, an Australian disability researcher, is blind.
The subjects vary in age and upbringing, and the book introduces diversity via chapters on two twentysomething women: Kana Grace studies loneliness in Japan, while Ayo Sokale is a civil engineer from Nigeria. A complementary caregiver perspective emerges in the section on Billy Megargel, who lives with his mother, who advocated for her son’s education and physical health through years of undiagnosed symptoms. His chapter reveals how much has changed since the 1990s in terms of information, support, and adaptive technology.
Interviews and research alike inform the profiles. In a few gratifying instances, the form suits the contents. The segment on Dolan, in a clever recreation of her wandering thoughts, emulates the tone of her fiction. A chapter on retired Detective Inspector Warren Hines, who solved 91 of 92 assigned murder cases, plots his investigation of a body found in a lake in 2012; Hines’s obsession with CCTV footage was the key to cracking that crime. Tammet is a background presence, meeting or corresponding with subjects and deciding how to shape their narratives. Sidetracks reveal his special interests. For example, he and Tink connected over a shared appreciation of autistic poet Les Murray.
As Villani insisted in a 2019 speech, “being different is a strength.” Nine Minds is an impressive composite biography that emphasizes the beauty of difference.
Reviewed by
Rebecca Foster
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
