A veteran book reviewer, Yanofsky has spent a lifetime immersed in literature (not to mention old movies and old jokes), which he calls shtick. This account of a year in the life of a family describes a father's struggle to enter his son's world, the world of autism, using the materials he knows best: self-help books, feel-good memoirs, literary classics from the Bible to Dr. Seuss, old movies, and, yes, shtick. Funny, wrenching, and unfailingly candid, Bad Animalsis both an exploration of a baffling condition and a quirky love story told by a gifted writer.

What Others Are Saying

Writers... show their capacity for greatness when they point their talent at something they love. Joel Yanofsky has done just that: written a marvellous book about a child he adores -- his son.

- David Gilmour, author of The Film Club

How do you parent an autistic child? In Bad Animals... Joel Yanofsky offers his answer to that question.... A refreshingly sober reflection on being the father of a high-functioning autistic 11-year-old.

- Chatelaine

(Joel) Yanofsky's journey from shock to denial, then acceptance to pride is an affecting one... you know that Bad Animals will have a great sequel.

- The Montreal Review of Books