Daisy Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 I thought this book review was fascinating in light of the recent discussions... http://www.npr.org/2011/01/03/132618326/parallel-lives-having-a-twin-with-mental-illness?sc=fb&cc=fp When composer Allen Shawn was writing Wish I Could Be There, his 2007 memoir on living with phobias, his twin sister, Mary, kept appearing before him in unexpected ways. "I realized that it was almost unbearable to write the passages about her in [Wish I Could Be There], and it was as if something was knocking at my door that I hadn't quite expected," Shawn tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. Shawn says he realized that Mary, who was diagnosed with both mental retardation and autism as a little girl, has been one of the biggest influences on his life... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momofkhm Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 I like this part: "I don't think I've ever felt like an individual the way a nontwin does," he says. "I literally feel like a bookend, as if there were a set of books next to me and at the other end of those books, there was another bookend. I have a sense of being part of a pair of things. Even in relation to Wally, my brother, I feel like he's an individual and that I'm a part of something." Makes me wonder if selectively reduced twins would still feel that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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