A review by msjoanna
Born Twice by Giuseppe Pontiggia

3.0

I'd never heard of this book, then suddenly I was seeing it everywhere. It's amazing how that happens sometimes. I believe this book appeared on the New York Times list of books that critics loved but expected didn't have wide readership in the US. This book should definitely find more readers. There were occasional moments of cultural or translation awkwardness that made me stumble -- such as repeated references in conversation to someone changing to dialect, or the use of the tu form of address -- but overall the book was heartfelt and readable. As a lawyer, I couldn't help noticing the lack of litigious instinct on the part of the parents. Their son, through inept use of forceps during a breech birth, has physical and linguistic disabilities. The book, more a series of memories than a chronological plot-based story, is told from the father's perspective as he examines his own reactions to his son's disabilities and the developing reactions between them.