OK, that was harsh. But, dammit, Joe and I needed a bit of a break from each other. He was making my head hurt and my chest feel like there was a balloon blowing up inside it (which is a simile, not a metaphor. Why is this relevant? Read on).

So with Myths to Live By safely set aside, and me on an existing 3 day tour through the 410 and the 317, I decided to pick up the curious incident of the dog in the night-time by esteemed Brit Mark Haddon. I had heard about this book back in the ‘03, when you Smart People who got As (the best grade) on your maths A-level probably read it. A fine choice indeed.

Picture a more lucid Benji solving (”detecting”) the mystery of a murdered dog with all of the neato little asides and digressions of Vonnegut’s best work and you will kinda get the drift. The thing I found the most interesting is, being inside the head of this clearly autistic kid (though the lable appears not once in the book), it is clear that the distinct functional differences between the workings of his mind and those of a “normal” person are really quite subtle. Plus, I got to revist quadratic equations and Mrs. Finnan’s turkey neck waddle.

While there ain’t much mystery, all in all, this is an excellent, fast and fascinating read.

Now, back to Joe . . . . . .