Author Andrew Solomon Visits Albuquerque Today

Bookworks and the University of New Mexico Department of Psychiatry will host renowned journalist Andrew Solomon in Albuquerque todya, October 24. Solomon, the National Book Award-winning author of Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity, will present on his work and experiences at 7pm at the Domenici Center Auditorium at the University of New Mexico's Health Science Center on UNM's north campus.

Solomon, a native New Yorker, has dual US-UK citizenship and makes his home in New York City with his partner John Habich, with whom he has a son. Solomon is also father to a daughter with his friend Blain Smith. His book, Far from the Tree (Scribner, 962 pp.), narrates his experiences as a gay son to straight parents and as a parent in a same-sex marriage and a member of a "composite family," with children born of same-sex parents.

The book mostly recounts case studies of families dealing with psychological and cultural issues that make their children "different," including deafness, dwarfism, Down Syndrome, autism, schizophrenia, physical disabilities, extreme intelligence, criminal behavior, children born of rape, and transgendered children. Solomon's study draws on 40,000 pages of interviews with more than 300 families. The take-aways: generosity, acceptance, and tolerance triumph over prejudice and bigotry.

"Solomon reminds us that nothing is more powerful in a child's development than the love of a parent," wrote President Bill Clinton of the book. Solomon argues that children can and should feel "special," regardless of the challenges of parenting children with medical or cultural differences.

Entry to Solomon's talk requires a ticket. Tickets are $21.50+tax and include a paperback copy of his book,Far from the Tree, along with the opportunity to meet Solomon at a signing after the event. Tickets are available at Bookworks, 4022 Rio Grande Blvd NW, in Albuquerque, online at www.bkwrks.com/andrew-solomon, or via phone: 505-344-8139.

Andrew Solomon is the author of The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression, which was a New York Times best-seller, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and the winner of fourteen national awards, including the 2001 National Book Award. His work has appeared in the New York Times, the New Yorker, Artforum, Salon, and many other publications. Solomon is a Lecturer in Psychiatry at Cornell University and a Special Adviser on LGBT Affairs to Yale's Department of Psychiatry. Learn more about Solomon @ www.andrewsolomon.comand more about the book at www.farfromthetree.com.

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