I'm currently reading the book "Party of one: the loners' manifesto" by Anneli Rufus. ISBN 1-56924-513-4
It was published in 2003, so it's not new, and although I aspire to keep up with new and interesting books, this one slipped under my radar till I was informed of it by someone in an AS forum.
The author writes about AS as a label in the book, but the only label that she hangs on herself is "loner" and she does it proudly.
The author has a web site which promotes the book, and has excerpts from the book:
http://www.annelirufus.com/
C'mon, am I really the only person here who has read this book? I'ts a good read, believe me.
I have not read the book, but I will certainly do so.
What do you think about the stuff that Rufus wrote about in these excerpts?
http://www.annelirufus.com/excerpts.html
Is this about Aspergers? Does it describe the experiences of some people who are not on the autistic spectrum, as well as some experiences of some people who are?
Do you or do you not identifiy with the things that the author wrote about?
What do you think is the relationship between the idea of the "loner" that the author wrote about and Aspergers? Are they completely different things, similar things, two categories that have some common features?
I read some of the above link, it could certainly be talking about aspies.
In the book the author doesn't explicitly link her category of "loner" with classic autistic characteristics such as "lack of imagination" "lack of social skills", obsession, or stimming behaviours, so I guess a reader could argue that there is nothing specific in that book linking lonerism with AS except being a loner.
The author does link lonerism with being an original and independent thinker, being an independent learner who is always able to amuse one's self and learn without an instructor, and she also associates being a loner with being intelligent. The author comes across as quite an intellectual snob in parts of the book. I personally think this applies as much to aspies as it does to loners in general. Most of the aspies who I personally know IRL are above average in intelligence, original thinkers and independent learners, who love to amuse themselves.