The Book Prize Index

Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity

Andrew Solomon

Solomon’s startling proposition in Far from the Tree is that being exceptional is at the core of the human condition—that difference is what unites us. He writes about families coping with deafness, dwarfism, Down syndrome, autism, schizophrenia, or multiple severe disabilities; with children who are prodigies, who are conceived in rape, who become criminals, who are transgender. While each of these characteristics is potentially isolating, the experience of difference within families is universal, and Solomon documents triumphs of love over prejudice in every chapter. All parenting turns on a crucial question: to what extent should parents accept their children for who they are, and to what extent they should help them become their best selves.

Society & CultureSociety & Culture · medium confidenceSociety & Culture81 signalsLlm Classifier: Society & Culture -> Society & CultureKeyword Classifier: Arts & Criticism -> Arts & CriticismTopic Classifier: Family Biography -> BiographyFamily BiographyFamily, Childhood & Adoption

Award History

5 wins · 5 total

AwardYearResultCategory / Notes
National Book Critics Circle Award for NonfictionMajor2012WinnerSecondary source
Wellcome Book Prize: Nonfiction2014WinnerSecondary source
Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards: Nonfiction2013WinnerOfficial source
Dayton Literary Peace Prize: Nonfiction2013WinnerSecondary source
J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize2013WinnerSecondary source
View all award history (5)
Experimental book profileGenerated by GPT-5.4 nano · may contain inaccuracies

This is an unverified interpretation of the catalog description, offered as an opt-in discovery experiment—not as bibliographic fact.

  1. 01 Central figures

    None extracted with sufficient confidence.

  2. 02 Central places

    None extracted with sufficient confidence.

  3. 03 Suggested argument

    No argument inferred with sufficient confidence.

    This suggestion did not meet the normal display threshold and is more likely to be wrong.

    Solomon argues that being exceptional/different unites people, and that difference within families is universal, with love overcoming prejudice.

    Model confidence 54%

  4. 04 Reading orientation

    35 / 100 academic

    Serious trade

    An estimate of intended readership and scholarly apparatus—not quality or importance.

Confidence percentages are the model's own estimates. Profile confidence: 62%.