Out With It

Starred review from June 24, 2013
Imagine being unable to say your own name or speak for longer than a few moments without stuttering. It's an adversity that Preston lives with daily and explores here. Broken into two parts that explore her lifeâgrowing up in England and her research into the how and why of stuttering in AmericaâPreston's book pulses with wit and energy, and the realities of how difficult living with this affliction is painted vividly. She visits therapists who promise a "cure", discusses media portrayals from The Kings Speech to A Fish Called Wanda, and decides to interview researchers and fellow stutterersâincluding actors, musicians, and regular folksâto explore the problem academically. In the process she finds love and discovers a community of stutterers, some of whom emphasize their stutter in an attempt to remove the stigma around it. Preston is unflinching and funny; she manages to find a happy balance of education, memoir, and feel-good-factor that few books actually achieve, concluding that it is our "imperfections that ultimately make us beautiful." Never saccharine or pandering, Preston's book is a triumph of telling your story without fear or glossing over the harder to look at details. Agent: Brettne Bloom, Neerim, Williams & Bloom.