Genie: A Scientific Tragedy

by Russ Rymer

"A tragic tale of obsession, exploitation, and lost souls. And the questions Rymer poses about human experience and experiments on humans make the story both intellectually absorbing and emotionally disturbing.  Genie  is a wondrous feat of storytelling and investigative journalism, compulsively readable while forcing us to think hard about our own humanity." —Amy Tan,  New York Times  bestselling author of  The Joy Luck Club The compelling story of a young woman's emergence into the world after spending her first 13 years strapped to a chair in a closed room, and her rescue and exploitation by scientists hoping to gain new insight into language acquisition.

Genres: Nonfiction, Psychology, Biography, Science, History, Linguistics, Language

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Russ Rymer is the author of Genie: A Scientific Tragedy, which became a NOVA television documentary and was a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award, and American Beach: A Saga of Race, Wealth, and Memory, which was nominated for a Los Angeles Times Book of the Year Award and named a New York Times Notable Book. Rymer, currently the Joan Leiman Jacobson Non-Fiction Writer in Residence at Smith College, has contributed articles to The New Yorker, National Geographic, Harper’s, Atlantic, and the New York Times Magazine.

Reviews

[Hilary · Rating 2 out of 5]

I first heard about poor Genie a week ago when my son was revising for his A level English. Having heard about her horrendous start in life I was so surprised that she was used as a study for language acquisition in children. The theory being that if you don't learn language in the first 7 years you will not be able to acquire language completely. I was very surprised that Genie was described as a blank slate, in my opinion Genie's slate is not a blank one. A blank slate would be a happy, healthy well loved child who had never heard language but was able to hear and vocalise sound. How can it not be taken into consideration that the years of abuse, severe malnutrition, lack of love, trust, a bond, stimulation, constant fear, and solitary confinement would mean Genie isn't a blank slate that proves language acquisition has to happen in the early years. There are several examples I have found that disprove this, children who have not been exposed to language but have not been abused and unhappy have gone on to acquire language quickly. I think it's plainly obvious that Genie's awful first 13 yrs affected her ability to learn language and I'm surprised this is still being held up as an example now.

I read this book in the hope of finding out more about Genie, this theory and I wanted to find out if Genie had managed to find happiness and some recovery from her early life. I didn't like the way this book was written, I wanted some facts but couldn't seem to find many, ended up skimming and missing parts out that didn't seem relevant.

[Cyndy Aleo · Rating 3 out of 5]

My mother recently brought me over boxes of books I haven't seen in years, one of which was Genie: A Scientific Tragedy. When I was still in college, I had planned on doing my senior psychology thesis on "unattached" children as they were called at the time, children who never properly bonded with a caregiver, and as a result, seemed to have no conscience. I was first drawn to Genie because her story begins with such unbelievable abuse and neglect that I assumed the story was about such a child.

::: Genie's Story :::

When Genie was first discovered, it was accidental. Her mother walked into the wrong office at social services, and a story of horrific abuse was discovered. A child they thought was approximately six was, in fact, thirteen. She was malnourished and couldn't speak. They soon learned that her father had abused her, tying her to a potty chair by day and caging her at night.

During the ensuing hospital stay, a team of doctors and other specialists determined that Genie would make an excellent research study, and for the next four years, she was studied in an attempt to learn how children developed if they were deprived of any normal conversation, toys, play, or human interaction.

::: The Book :::

Russ Rymer, the author, originally did a shorter version of Genie's story before expanding it into a book. Interspersed with Genie's story are concepts and figures in the field of linguistics (since that was the final focus of the study of Genie) as well as comparisons to the most famous story of a feral child before Genie: Victor, the Wild Child of Aveyron, who was immortalized in a film by Francois Truffaut.

The parallels between the two stories are striking. In both instances, the research became more important than the welfare of the child. Not long after Genie's story begins, the inevitable infighting among the professionals who reportedly want to "help" her. At first, Genie seems to make progress by leaps and bounds, but as her progress stalls and the grant money dries up, the infighting gives way to even more neglect. The end of the story is nearly as tragic as the beginning.

::: Rymer's Telling :::

The story of Genie has been told before Rymer's book, perhaps more famously at the time in the dissertation/book Genie: A Psycholinguistic Study of a Modern-Day "Wild Child" by Susan Curtiss, the graduate student who followed Genie's language acquisition.

Genie: A Scientific Tragedy seems to undertake a retelling of the story, exposing where helping a child was undermined by her viability as a research subject. The parts of the story that actually involve Genie are riveting, and you find yourself wanting to know what became of her, and how the book ended up. However, you are thwarted in your quest by the next exposition section, in which Rymer offers more background on the study of linguistics than anyone but a student might be interested. There are some interesting sections, especially where he refers to studies of brain development and how it applies to the theories made about Genie, but ultimately, he uses more too many linguistic theories and bandies about one too many French phrases without benefit of translation, and comes across as far too pedantic, making the reader feel inferior.

::: Overall :::

Rymer's book is categorized as science, but seems to fail both as a case study and as a scientific inquiry. If approximately 90 or so of the 221 pages were excised, it would be a fascinating read for anyone, but as it is, I'd recommend it only to those with an interest in child development or linguistics.

I found the subtitle to be very appropriate, because science is what added to the tragedy of Genie's life.

This review previously published at Epinions: http://www.epinions.com/review/Book_G...

[Victoria Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️3.5 ⭐️In my opinion, though this book is far from perfect, it's a quintessential read for anyone working or interested in neuro-linguistics and language development. Rymer does a relatively good job at summarizing the various theories and debates regarding language acquisition and how Genie's case supports or opposes these theories. In fact, one of my favourite parts of the book is when she visits and interviews Norm Chompsky, whose Universal Grammar theory was especially rebutted with Genie's case. This book does feel very dated (written in the 90s, with research from the 70s). Language development research has come a long way since Genie's case, and I feel some of the explanations and discussion covered in the novel could benefit from modern perspectives. The book was also much more anecdotal than I expected - the narrative relies heavily on interviews and hearsay with a lot of linguistic and scientific jargon. I felt this made the novel a little more difficult to follow. It felt less like a book written about Genie and more about the researchers involved in her case. I personally enjoyed its perspective, however, I would really only recommend this book to people interested in linguistic history.

[Fishface · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, what a story. This is a lot more than a "scientific" tragedy. Traces the life of a child who was accidentally discovered by Social Services after being rescued from her abusive father, who kept her strapped onto a baby's potty chair for the first 13 years of her life and beat her with a board if she made any noise. She briefly became a star in the academic community as scientists, therapists and teachers from different disciplines wrangled over possession of the "feral child," and tried to find out whether -- and why or why not -- she would be able to develop into a normal adult. Very well written -- explains some tricky scientific concepts in language the layperson can understand, and is remarkably even-handed and compassionate, attempting to understand the viewpoints of even the most unprofessional, dirty-fighting parties involved in the struggle for ownership of poor Genie.

[Karina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mainly textbook style, I found it laborious and boring at times. Only when they spoke about Genie herself (and not the linguistics aspect of her learning) did I find the book really interesting.

[David Dagley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book being given away on the side of the road, so I came into it without any prior knowledge of Genie.

I think Rymer did a good job telling the story of Genie's tragic life through the perspective of as many people as possible, especially since most of those involved with Genie do not share the same views of what happened.

I did not expect the book to include so much about linguistics and prior theories and experiments that came before Genie, but I found those sections really interesting.

That being said, since much of the debate on the ethics of how Genie was treated by the doctors/scientists revolved around whether or not she was exploited for research, it feels a little weird to then be learning so much about the conclusions of the research in the same book that is suggesting that she was exploited for that reason.

But in the end, it's not quite clear either exactly where the blame lies for how Genie ended up, and many of those responsible also seemed to care very much about her well-being at certain points.

I like what Jay Shurley, one of the early researchers, said about this near the end of the book:

"These were not bad people. They just didn't allow this child to develop along normal lines. The course of research defeated the treatment, which defeated the research."

and "What I saw happen to Genie was a pretty crass form of exploitation. I had to realize that I was part of it, and swear to refrain. It turned out that Genie, who had been so terribly abused, was exploited all over again."

[Ricky · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoy the topic of this book. Genie's story is such an interesting one, but the pacing of this made it difficult to get through at times. I wasn't a big fan of the writing style either. I did like the science parts the most.

[J.L. Benson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read a few reviews of this book just after I read it, and one reviewer described Genie and her story as "Hopeless... literally beyond hope." And this phrase really stuck out to me. Genie, her story and her life could not be summed up in any better way than this.

Poor Genie wasn't given a chance. Not once in her entire sad life. She was born to parents who didn't want her and weren't mentally sufficient (downright cruel) to take care of her. Her father decided when she was only 20 months old that she was severely retarded (I hate that R-word) and decided to "protect" her by brutally shutting her in a room; strapping her to a child's potty chair for hours and days on end. When she wasn't strapped to the potty chair, she was bundled in a sleeping sack so tightly she was unable to move, then caged in an adult-sized-crib. Genie never learned social interaction. She never learned to speak. She never learned communication. For THIRTEEN YEARS she was held captive to her father's delusions and her mother's inaction.

When she was rescued, she was left a broken and disturbed little girl. Afraid of the world, afraid of people, and afraid to speak. She was given a chance at life, but instead of finding her a family equipped to love and nurture her; the "Genie Team" saw her as a project. They saw her as a lab monkey; a way to test their hypotheses and force her language acquisition to prove to the scientific community their hypotheses about language acquisition.

And when the grant money ran out, and it became clear that Genie was never going to be "proficient enough" to their standards, she was dumped back on her mother who was not equipped or able to care for Genie's special needs. This resulted in Genie being dumped into state-run homes and institutions. Homes where Genie wasn't given the proper attention and she blamed herself.

Genie never had a chance. She was a victim of her father's demented perception of the world. She was a victim of the scientist's perception of who she should be and how she should be able to speak. She became a victim of state run institutions and a mental health system not able to suit her needs.

Genie made strides and thrived best with families who loved her and showed her a home-life she never got to experience with her biological parents. And when she was placed in institutions, her abilities quickly regressed. And yet, the people who were made famous, advanced their own careers, and made money from her tragic life and story did nothing to help her. She was again abandoned by the people she trusted.

This story makes me so sad and sick. Genie's story should have ended differently. It should have ended better.

[The Idle Woman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The facts are these. In late 1970, a woman arrived at a social services office in California with her daughter. The woman, Irene, had almost entirely lost her sight and had taken a wrong turn while looking for services for the blind. But it was her daughter who caught the receptionist’s attention. It transpired that mother and child had managed to escape their home, where they had lived under the totalitarian rule of Irene’s husband Clark. The little girl, Genie, had spent her life in confinement in the back bedroom of their house, strapped to a potty chair and at night put to sleep in a crib which resembled a wire cage. Her father, who hated noise, had beaten her whenever she made a sound and so she wasn’t only unable to speak, but was unwilling to vocalise in any form. On top of this, she was severely malnourished, incontinent and psychologically underdeveloped. She was immediately taken into care at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, where her nutritional needs were seen to, but her other needs were more complex...

For the full review, please see my blog:
https://theidlewoman.net/2017/02/12/g...

[Anne Hawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of Genie is a truly a tragedy in every way. There was no "right" way for Genie. In some respects, it would have been better for Social Services to have given her to a family who would have raised her as a beloved pet. In actuality, that was the only level at which she could have happily functioned, but who would have thought that when she was found? Because of how she was raised, she was an empty slate, a perfect subject for understanding how language was learned and emotions were formed. No one would have denied her the right to learn as much as she possibly could, but when she began to level out and no further progress could be made, she became a problem with no solution. The people who studied her cared for her, but their job was to study her, not adopt her. Social Services then had the problem of where to place her. She wasn't a puppy. Even with her limited emotional development, leaving the people who spent so much time with her was difficult. There was no good answer, and it was apparent that she would again be "abused," although not intentionally.

The information gleaned from the study of her life was tremendous. In fact, what they learned from her made it possible to better help if another child was found. It is amazing to me that people's experiences actually "create" their brains. If children are raised like an animals, as with feral children, they develop aspects of the brain that help with survival, rather than language. Our brains respond to our environment. I think that was the rational I was given with respect to studying algebra...it seems a lot more sensible now.

[Caffee K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not in my normal genre, however for research purposes I gladly started reading this. It was not what I expected, even with the warning I received from the lender before I got it.

Genie revolves around a young girl, "Genie", who has suffered traumatic abuse and neglect as a young child. When she is discovered because her mother took her to an appointment at a local DHS office, the scientific community over reacts to the potential information they may discover about the human psyche. This is a tale of turf wars for Genie's control with highlights of her progress and regressions. It is a tale of a young girl reaching out for love and caring attention, yet rarely receives it.

I chose to rate at 3 stars, because I will not need to re-read this book because the lessons contained between the covers stand in stark relief when I think about other children who are in Genie's condition. This is one of those books that you read once, and remember for ever. It is told with a cold objective narrator, yet the care he feels towards Genie shows through despite his efforts. He also tries to remain objective of the personal scorn he feels towards the scientific community who failed this young girl so spectacularly.

It was a page turner, yet each page I read made me dread seeing what happened next. Especially once politics and egos wormed their way into the process of helping Genie try to adapt to what we call "normal". An educational read, and something anyone seeking to enter the psychological or linguistic field should read.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very important book. The lessons to be learned are extreme. It is hard to review. I can't say that I enjoyed the book. Not in a sense of enjoyment to read. This book is painful. "Genie" suffered one of the most tragic childhoods a person could endure. Utter cruelty. Disgusting and enraging. Had I been the person that discovered her and the conditions under which she was existing, her "father" would have been pounded into a fine powder on the spot. And the fact that so many people dropped the ball in "saving" her is disheartening. They put science first, Genie second. And in the end you're left with a painful realization. You look at how poorly people with mental disorders, diseases, physical disabilities and the like were treated in the 1600's, 1700's, 1800's....and you like to believe things are so much better these days. This was the 1970's.....and her treatment wasn't much better than the "Wild boy" of Aveyron. (The feral child found in France in 1800). I will never forget this book or Genie. Painful yet powerful story. The greatest book I did not enjoy reading.

[Joana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first heard about this story during a class on Behavior Psychology. I was so intrigued by the photograph the professor showed us of "Genie", a 13 year old girl with an appearance of a 7 year old, unable to verbally communicate yet so expressive in her body language and eyes.

This story does not have a happy ending. It is heartening and amazing see Genie's progress in learning and acquiring new skills, as an insight on the mind's ability to continuously learn and adapt despite harrowing deprivation and abuse. Genie's progress, however, reached it's peak too quickly in the book, and the political and ethical fight that ensues over her treatment and care is heartbreaking.

It was a great book on the discussion of nature versus nurture, but a story that will always haunt me.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

hope Clark is burning in hell

[Adam Stevenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book I can’t look at objectively because the tragedy at the centre of it so gripped, moved and haunted me, that the quality of the book itself is almost irrelevant to the effect it had. I came across her story in Savage Girls and Wild Boys and, if I’m honest, I’d rather have been ignorant of it. The image of having to sit, for over 4,000 days on a potty with almost no stimulation whatsoever, is one that I could not leave alone or stop thinking about it. I read this book to exorcise that image.

First off, the abuse that Genie suffered is as close to Hell as I can possibly imagine. I can’t fully imagine it, yet for a while I couldn’t help imagining it.. even thinking of it now makes my eyes sting and my throat tense up. Given the probability that Genie was in all likelihood imprisoned on a potty chair as a totally fair-functioning 20-month old, it becomes that much worse what was denied to her. Locked up like that because her dad wanted to protect her from being exploited, his ensured that not only would she be exploited, but she wouldn’t have a single one of the defence mechanisms a person develops to protect themselves.

That the people in ‘team Genie’ wished to do as well for her as they could, I have no doubt. Yet I also have no doubt that each of them saw Genie as a fascinating scientific test subject. I wish they’d gone with the plan of nurturing Genie, ensuring someone would mother her, hold her, clean her, tickle her - bring her through trauma and establish clear separation of self and others and hope she gained language in the process, rather than teach her language and hope it connected her to people. It’s very telling that grants were awarded to the team on the grounds of linguistics research because such things could be quantified and because she was found at a moment of intense debate about language acquisition. It’s also very telling that the individual care for her ran out the same time the scientific grants did.

I read the book because I couldn’t let the horror of her situation go, yet this book helped me see more than that. How amazing is it that Genie developed as much as she did? That she aced certain right brain tasks beyond any other subject before? That she touched so many people and communicated so clearly with a whole arsenal of non-verbal communication. How incredible is it that someone brought up with so little stimulation, in such dreary pain and horror, could be such a force of personality that it leaps off the page? The pure curiosity, that intellectual powerhouse of the mind, being delighted by things most people ignore.. there’s a small kernel of hope there.

And while her first foster homes was certainly another tragedy heaped on the tragedy already - it’s not impossible that her life has been terrible, there might be very caring people there, moments of outreach and development and fun.. we can only hope.

As for the writing, I find some of the detailed establishment paragraphs to be needlessly flowery but in general I found the book to be sensitive and reflective, giving all the people around her moments to speak their mind and explain their approaches. I was also very interested in the detailed brain-science parts at the end, having studied linguistics at A-level and having some knowledge of the debates about innate vs acquired language. That we have since found out that language is a key cause for brain development and the explanation of how Genie progressed as she did and why she could not progress further, I found very interesting. Yet, those parts did distract from the core human element of the book, an almost unthinkably tragic story of a life growing up in Hell, the scars of which could never be completely left behind.

I work in a primary school, and Genie was strapped in that potty chair (a word that’ll always give me a small feeling of horror from now on) for longer than a child attends the school. When I see how they grow and develop in the time in the school, and imagine all of that being denied and repressed, and yet still a modicum of love and support (driven by a great deal of scientific greediness) still prompted such a flourishing is incredible. I wish her all the best, wherever she is and that she has regained some of the joy and love she deserves.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, Blade Runner 2049 came out so I wanted to revisit the 1982 film Blade Runner and that made me wonder what else actress Sean Young had done, so that led me to the 2001 film Mockingbird Don't Sing where she played the role of Dr. Judy Bingham. Note a noteworthy movie, but it made me interested in the real-world case of the true story of Genie, a modern-day feral child forced into that state by forced isolation, starvation, and neglect from her dysfunctional parents. Genie entered into institutional care and government protection the year I was born -- 1970. Despite the documented history of missteps taken with similarly traumatized children, this one suffered much of the same as a football fought over by careerists, further abuse in foster care, and eventually defaulted back to the mother that failed her for her childhood. From being cast into a metaphorical oubliette from her family, she was forgotten and cast away through effective neglect by the state.

While the undeserved tribulations are moving, intellectually fascinating in this study is what this highly studied child can suggest about language because of the unique circumstances of this unfortunate "natural experiment." Susan Curtiss began her work on Genie's case as a graduate student in linguistics. Her analysis turned the concept of The Language Acquisition Device (LAD) -- a hypothetical module of the human mind posited to account for children's innate predisposition for language acquisition first proposed by Noam Chomsky in the 1960s – on its head. Rather than the brain organizing language acquisition, language acquisition organized the brain. Curtiss explained that “Genie's case suggests the possibility that normal cerebral organization may depend on language development occurring at the appropriate time.” As this author summarizes: "If Genie was any indication, we a physically formed by the influence of language. An essential part of our personal physical development is conferred on us by others, and comes in at the ear. The organization of our brain is as genetically ordained and as automatic as breathing, but, like breathing, it is initiated by the slap of a midwife, and the midwife is grammar.” (pages 169 - 170) This leads to such questions explored as “What is a language?” Is American Sign Language one? Apparently yes due to the way it evolves by the way its users grow it and it is a tool for additional studies. This included a deaf boy that learned ASL with flawed grammar but "developed proper ASL from the flawed model" suggesting the syntactic tooling came online from an innate source (p. 174). Fascinating stuff.

[Betsy Jacobs · Rating 5 out of 5]

The writing (as a whole) isn't 5-star worthy, but the story is. And I have to say that some of the writing is so good that I found myself going back and reading entire passages out loud. This book hit all of the sweet spots for me, and I'm left wondering about the most basic, fundamental question of a person's story -- By what right do I get to read it?

"Genie" didn't share her story, science did. As the science shifted to new questions (as it inevitable does), the girl was forgotten. Forgotten and left to rot in an institution. Forgotten by all, that is, except those who are accused of exploiting her. Genie is a conversation in every introductory psychology classroom in the world, several times a year. I'll certainly never tell her story the same way...ever again.

This is an extraordinary book about an extraordinary girl with an unimaginable life. I'll think about this one for a long, long time.

[Karen Koppy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a tragedy! How sad this poor girl was exploited for her abused history. I can only hope that if/when an individual with a similar background appears in the future, that professionals will not turn that individual into a case study but will focus only on helping them assimilate into the best person they can be with love and patience. Between the medical professionals and the Social Services in California, this girl became an ignored, institutionalized woman who lost most of the gains she made initially.
I realize that she was being studied for her ability to learn to communicate by language, but I didn't care for the depth the author went into re: the study of linguistics. A brief explanation would have been more relatable for me. The real lesson from this book for me was that no one person should become a research project.

[James Anson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Russ Rymer approaches the famous case of Genie from the standpoint of a journalist and therefore offers a layman’s understanding of the complexities of the case. After Genie was found, trapped in a room and heavily neglected by her parents, a considerable amount of research and intensive therapy took place by psychologists who were not always able to keep a professional distance from their subject. The areas of language acquisition are well described and those interested in Chomsky’s LAD will appreciate the narration. The relevance of attachment in childhood and maternal deprivation is less of a focus. Still, it is a highly useful account.

[Mikki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmmmm What to say?! A very sad story of an abused child who was apparently further abused - albeit in a different way - by the adults who were supposed to oversee her rehabilitation, each with his/her own 'success' and fame in mind. Varying agenda, different goals, all of which failed that poor young person. Thankfully she was finally removed from the circus her life had been subsumed into. I hope her final days were happier and simpler than the time she spent with her so-called minders during which she was little more than a human guinea pig on whom 'techniques' were used just to see what she would do, how she would react. Shame on people who should have known better!

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought this book was so so interesting as someone who is very interested in linguistics, I picked it up in my school library knowing only vaguely about Genie's case. It is so sad to think about what happened to her, and like the book points out in the concluding chapters, the experiments they used her for were invalidated bc of the horrific trauma she had already endured, and their efforts to help her recover were stunted bc of the experiments they wanted to use her for. Truly wish the people who had access to her had focused more on helping her and I hope that a lot of them are grappling with guilt/ regret. That being said I think the book was well written.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book after inadvertent YouTube discovery of documentary. This is a tragic story of an extreme case of abuse/neglect and it's aftermath. Although story was originally published as a linguistic study; this journalist's story shares a broader picture. Still there is good science and a meaningful story to be told. I am close in age to "Genie". I grew up in same era, and was very affected by this discovery.
Also, unfortunately, these family abuse tragedies are still occurring (Texas, California) & one must be aware of what can potentially be happening much closer than you may think.

[Jakub Sláma · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you read Genie: A Psycholinguistic Study of a Modern-Day "Wild Child" and you know some stuff about the case, only a couple of chapters at the end of the book might tell you something new. Sometimes there are unnecessary digressions. Also, the scientific stuff feels slightly dated even when considering it was written in the 90s.

[Karin Mersereau · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the linguistics of this book a bit hard to understand. Lots of similies used which threw me off. Was a bit too rich in its words, which i can appreciate because it put emotion into the book. But i had a hard time figuring out who was who and what was going on because it jumped around quite a bit. It was the authors first book so ill give him that. Otherwise, Genie's story is very heartbreaking and worth understanding. Shes more connected to the world than she knows due to this book

[sequoia spirit · Rating 4 out of 5]

i got this book because i first learned about Genie years ago on a NOVA episode on tv.. and i found her story fascinating, albeit heart breaking.. i've never forgotten about her, so when i saw this book, i had to get it.. it more about the scientific studies that were done on her & other feral/wild children.. and less about Genie personally.. i would've liked to have learned more about her.. the book is well written..

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting read, definitely not my normal book choice. I first learned about Genie in one of my psychology classes and have always wanted to research her a little more. Most of the book was really captivating. Other parts, not so much. It got a little overly scientific in some sections, and I found those a little hard to follow. I did think it was informative overall, and the whole thing is pretty heartbreaking.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book, but it will depend on your motivation for reading it. If you are reading it for the psychology aspect, it most likely won't satisfy. This focuses greatly on language development psychology and science rather than the overall psychology of Genie.

[Etonn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a tragedy that this child was let down by everyone she encountered, and so depressing to read about the scramble over money that it turned into. I found the theory of language development really interesting.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

He rambles a lot and it made the book more academic and harder to get through. I would have enjoyed a more personal story about Genie less scientific. Just was disappointing. But I still learned more information.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating. Well-worded. There's a Flannery O'Connor quote at the very beginning, so that's special too. I wish the first three to four parts had been told consistently in chronological order, as it was more arranged by subject matter and bounced around quite a bit.