The Neurodiversity Edge: The Essential Guide to Embracing Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, and Other Neurological Differences for Any Organization

By Maureen Dunne, AB’98, AM’98; Wiley, 2024

Worldwide, 15 to 20 percent of people are neurodivergent—with diagnoses including autism, ADHD, and dyslexia—but most efforts to support neurodivergent workers stop at simple accommodations. Maureen Dunne draws on more than two decades of research and case studies, as well as her own experiences as a neurodivergent business leader, to propose a new framework for thinking about neurodiversity in the workplace. She argues that cognitive diversity is an asset for organizations, particularly in an age of technological advancements, and offers practical steps for creating a truly inclusive work environment.

Past Lives

V. Joshua Adams, AM’02, PhD’14; JackLeg Press, 2024

“A lot of people have past lives they are covering up. / For example, I was once an Episcopalian,” writes V. Joshua Adams in “Nautical Maps,” one of 49 poems in his first full-length collection. In a tone by turns humorous and confessional, Adams invites readers to consider questions of desire, history, and aging. Organized into three parts, or “lives,” the collection begins with playful evocations of childhood, which give way to abstract imagery and experimentation with form. Throughout, Adams introduces unexpected associations, imbuing ordinary moments with a surreal quality.

Architect

Alison Thumel, AB’14; University of Arkansas Press, 2024

“Five years after my brother’s death, I audited an architecture class on Frank Lloyd Wright,” begins the poet’s answer to the question “How are you coping?” In the collection that follows, Alison Thumel brings together poetry, prose, and visual art as she reflects on loss, family, and the spaces we occupy. In Thumel’s writing the midwestern landscape becomes a character of its own: it is the backdrop and inspiration for Wright’s prairie style buildings, but also a fearsome and dangerous force. This debut collection is an exploration of grieving and starting again.

Dream City

Douglas Unger, AB’73; University of Nevada Press, 2024

In this novel Douglas Unger takes readers behind the scenes of the artificial dreamworld of Las Vegas, into the offices and homes of the real estate moguls and resort executives orchestrating the development boom of the ’90s and early aughts. The novel follows failed actor-turned-hotel marketer C. D. Reinhardt as he navigates the cynicism and muddy ethics of this environment, struggling to maintain relationships and keep a grip on his sense of right and wrong. In a city built on desire and greed, Unger asks, is redemption possible?

The Music Never Died: Tales from the Flipside

Mark Swartz, AM’93; Verse Chorus Press, 2024

In these imaginative stories, Mark Swartz writes of musicians who died too young, interspersing scenes from the afterlives of some with imagined alternate fates for others. In the afterlife—at least in Swartz’s telling—people are grouped by how they died, and Amelia Earhart has opened a music lounge where Glenn Miller, Buddy Holly, and Otis Redding perform. Others are spared an early death: Biggie Smalls is befriended by Yoko Ono, and Amy Winehouse recovers at an eccentric aristocrat’s Caribbean retreat. Through these unexpected vignettes, Swartz explores what might happen if we had just a little more time with these artists.

For additional alumni book releases, use the link to the Magazine’s Goodreads bookshelf at mag.uchicago.edu/alumni-books.