Great and Unfortunate Things
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Great and Unfortunate Things
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Narrated by:
‘No, Giff,’ I told her. ‘We did. We did it . . .’
When Jason Arday was thirty-seven years old, everything changed. He made international news by becoming the youngest Black professor in the almost thousand-year history of the University of Cambridge. But that remarkable achievement is only part of his great and unfortunate tale.
He grew up in a council house in south London with his parents and two brothers. Diagnosed with autism and global developmental delay at the age of three, he spent much of his non-verbal childhood navigating a system that struggled to understand him. Doctors and teachers believed there was ‘no one in there’. But Jason’s mother, Giff, refused to accept the limits others placed on her son.
With the faith of his family and the support of a handful of extraordinary friends and mentors, Jason slowly found his voice. He spoke his first word at eleven, learned to read at eighteen, and discovered a passion for education and helping others that would transform his life. Along the way there were improbable triumphs and heartbreaking setbacks, tears of joy and moments so painful that laughter was the only option, and more than one occasion when everything seemed poised to fall apart.
Great and Unfortunate Things is an unforgettable book about resilience and love – and the transformative power of someone who believes in you when the world does not.
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Critic reviews
‘Imagine the remarkable Educated by Tara Westover, with further education and against perhaps even greater odds’ (Caroline Sanderson)
'Arday's cinematic story from being nonverbal to becoming one of the youngest professors ever at Cambridge makes you believe in the transformative power of grit and the magic of a mother's love. The most inspiring book I've read in decades' (Chris Gardner, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Pursuit of Happyness)
'This is a remarkable portrait of an astonishing life. Great and Unfortunate Things takes us on a spectacular journey of trial and transformation, offering crucial insight into the realities of neurodivergence, told by an author who changed the shape of his life through sheer will. Above all, this memoir is a poignant tribute to fearless mothers like Arday’s whose love, education and unshakable belief in their children will always make mountains move' (Safiya Sinclair, international bestselling author of How to Say Babylon)
'Some lives are changed by talent. Others are changed by love that refuses to let go. In Great and Unfortunate Things, Jason Arday tells a story of resilience, dignity and the extraordinary power of those who hold steady for us when we cannot yet hold steady for ourselves. This is a beautiful and unforgettable book' (Steve Pemberton, USA Today bestselling author of A Chance in the World)
'I love a good story. As a journalist, storytelling's goal is to both move and inform. Arday's story is as riveting and moving as they come. Jason's efforts to overcome obstacles presented by his neurodivergence are movingly matched only by his mother's extraordinary efforts to work with his differences not against them, to see the humanity where others chose to see an inky diagnosis' (Michelle Miller, author of the New York Times bestseller Belonging: A Daughter's Search for Identity Through Loss and Love )
'As the mother of a child on the spectrum, I was reminded once again that there is nothing more fierce than a parent's determination to see her child get the services and attention he deserves, nothing more inspiring than a stranger with nothing to gain who asks, "how can I help?", and nothing more empowering than intervention combined with positivity, love and grit. Read this book and prepare to be inspired' (Holly Robinson Peete, actress, advocate and author of Same but Different: Teen Life on the Autism Express)
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