Light summer reading takes on a whole new meaning when the protagonist is a 15-year-old autistic kid who seems like he's got everything figured out, unless you're reading Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. It's not that I'm jealous of Christopher, the sharp idiot savant, who functions in British society but is just eccentric enough to step back tentatively (not talk to people for weeks, not touch anyone and have an obsessively observant awareness of surroundings) in order to berate the idiosyncrasies and absurdities of modern culture. But yeah, I'm jealous.

Nothing like biting social commentary from the ''special'' gallery to put you back in your place. Christopher's voice has an offbeat and yet unapologetic tone; in his distorted world people, emotions and relationships seem to be the crazy thing, because they don't follow any rule or order. Christopher virtually shuts down in this world - with too many unknowns bringing on too many discomforts (just your normal case of public groaning or hitting, potentially healthier than our more socially-acceptable repression). His book begins as a Holmesian foray into the murder of a neighbor's poodle with a pitchfork, because mysteries, like math proofs or machines, are systematic, logical and always have an answer.

But along the way he stumbles and we fall with him into the web of his parents' weaknesses, failures and lies, to uncover harsh truths. His psyche acts as a proof in itself, as his story makes us long for his disparate and simpler mindset, without the taint of human folly. It's a quick and enjoyable read - like hanging out with a kid who can spout theory effortlessly and uses it to prove how silly adults can be. He is part mental recluse and part smart aleck, as Michiko Kakutani of the New York Times summarized, "Think of The Sound and the Fury crossed with The Catcher in the Rye and one of Oliver Sacks' real life stories." Both funny and touching, his story makes life in general seem simpler, though you still can't convince me math is easy or cool.