Really a 2.5. There is a good deal of interesting material here, the information about people living with Tourette Syndrome is fascinating. Handler himself is not fascinating at all. He may be a great guy, I hate to sound mean, but if he is interesting beyond his neuro-atypicality, he doesn't let the reader know. Most of the memoir portion of this is disjointed and/or boring. Handler's discussion of his relationships with women, including but not limited to his ex-wife, is sad and boring in equal measure. He raises what might be interesting info about his relationship to his family and to friends, but never explores those relationships. As a writer Handler is a good photographer. There is material here that is worth reading, you just have to slog through a lot of other stuff. If you have a strong interest in Tourette this might be worth a read, otherwise skip it. ( )

I have a nephew with Tourette's. He's very annoying - he's lazy, always seems to feel entitled and is alternately charming because it suits him and really lets loose because that's how he feels right then. And he gets away with it all because he has Tourette's and no-one feels they can say anything to him. This is somewhat the opposite experience of Lowell Handler who suffers a lot from bullying, rude remarks and the effects of giving people a generally bad impression because of his Tourette's.

It was interesting reading of his journey from the unhappy child who didn't fit in to the man who travelled through America with Oliver Sacks and made a film, the award winning documentary of Tourette's called, the same as his book, Twitch and Shout and then to his years as a social worker caring for the recently-homeless with mental problems. All conducted in a haze of what might be for most of us, excessive pot smoking, but for him is self-medication.

My nephew is a lovely lad, bright, social and good fun (when he chooses) and just as Lowell Handler does, he loves the company of other Touretters where he no longer stands out and so they both go to Touretters' conferences. We dread it when my nephew gets back from one though, he picks up so many extra tics from the people he's been with and they can take days to wear off. Lots more kicks and coughs and twitchy shoulders and whatever else took his neurological fancy. Lowell notes the same thing. Odd these brain disorders that are not psychologically-based but express themselves as if they were. Just how does the brain decide, 'oooh look at that tic, I just must do it and right now'.

Lovely book. Not deep, not inspirational, but the reader will draw quite a lot of insights into the condition from it.

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What an interesting book! I learned a lot about Tourette. This topic could be a real downer, but the book is uplifting, hopeful, and funny.
Finished January 2007 ( )