I Dream He Talks to Me

A Memoir of Learning How to Listen

By: Allison Moorer

Narrated by: Allison Moorer

From a Grammy-nominated musician comes a lyrical testament to love and resilience through the lens of parenting her young son, who has nonverbal autism.

When Allison’s son, John Henry, stopped using his growing vocabulary just before his second birthday, she knew in her bones that something was shifting. In the years since his autism diagnosis, Allison and John Henry have embarked on an intense journey filled with the adventure, joy, heartbreak, confusion, and powerful love lessons that are the hallmarks of a quest for understanding.

In I Dream He Talks to Me, Allison details the meltdowns and the moments of grace, and how the mundane expectations of a parent turn into extraordinary achievements. The saying goes, “If you know one person with autism, you know one person with autism”; no two stories are alike, and yet there are universal truths that apply to all parent-child relationships. With gorgeous prose, Allison shares her and John Henry’s experience while also creating a riveting narrative that will speak to anyone who parents - and who has questioned their own ability to do so. An exploration of resilience and compassion - both for ourselves and for others - I Dream He Talks to Me is also a moving meditation on our place in the world and how we get there; what words mean, what they don’t; and, ultimately, how we truly express ourselves and truly know those whom we love.

©2021 Allison Moorer (P)2021 Hachette Books

Critic reviews

"Moorer’s candor and self-doubt are achingly honest and oftentimes funny, making this not a story of heartbreak but a celebration of life’s struggles and rewards. This is a parenting book worth reading twice." (Publishers Weekly)

“I love every inch of Allison Moorer - her brilliant mind, her poetic melodic voice, her huge heart and humanity, her guts and courage, and those feet planted so solidly and soulfully on the earth. Blood was a tremendous achievement, so lyrical, wise, heartbreaking, charming, and beautifully written; and so is I Dream He Talks to Me, both a memoir of her non-verbal autistic son, and a journey into the truth of who we all are.” (Anne Lamott)

"Life can wear us down and make us bitter, or it can soften our hearts and make us wise. I can think of no one who personifies this wisdom better than Allison Moorer. Her luminous, beautifully written book is a paean to maternal love and devotion, and also something more: befitting a songwriter of her great gifts, I would call it a hymn." (Dani Shapiro, New York Times best-selling author of Inheritance and Family History)

Amazing

I felt this book deep in my heart. It hit home for me and my family. Thank you

This is an extraordinary memoir

I was blown away with how beautifully written this was. I’d enjoyed (not quite the right word for such a harrowing story) Allison Moorer’s previous memoir, “Blood,” but I would actually say this is even better—a more nuanced work, as a whole, by a by now more seasoned writer. Her compassion, honesty, and vulnerability are in every sentence. A+ narration as well.

If I Didn't Know Better, I'd Think This was My Son

I felt every moment of this book. I made the mistake of listening to this while driving. The chapter "Grace Note" had me bawling my eyes out and I had to pull into the nearest parking lot. Allison, you're note to yourself made me feel as if you might be talking to me. Listener beware if you are driving while listening to this!

I've heard people tell the stories of their struggles and hopes and never really connected with them. Not that I didn't care, but our struggles weren't even close to the same. But this book....this book hit me several times. From the severity of our sons on the spectrum to the wholly surprising moments (but always cherished and always welcomed) of affection, it hit all the notes.

I dream every now and then that my son is talking to me and I wake up every time so happy yet so sad. Allison Moorer hit that note too.

Thank you so much for an amazing book. I've told my mom about it, my ex husband, my husband,
two of my best friends, and almost ALL my coworkers about this book. AND I JUST FINISHED IT LAST NIGHT!

Thank you so much. It brings me great solace to hear about someone going through almost the same identical thing as me and she still has hope and the courage to believe in herself. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Absolutely Beautiful

After the heartbreak of Blood comes this equally personal story of heartache and the daily process of letting go. I’m sure reading it would be wonderful but hearing Allison Moorer’s voice catch, her raw emotion where she seems almost on the verge of tears, brings this book to a whole new level. ❤️

Opportunistic, Exploitative

I loved this author's original memoir, Blood. She suddenly lost the exaggerated Southern accent she displayed during the reading of Blood for the performance of this book! But that's the least of my concerns.
For me, this second "memoir" exploits her son's challenges. It's his story she's capitalizing on. I was interested to read what they've been through, but I found it extremely shallow compared to Blood, and a disappointment in the way she uses her son, John Henry, to afd another notch in the empire she's trying to build. When I knew I disliked the book was when she tried to shame "smug" parents who display bumper stickers showing pride in their own achievements (the example she gave was the Honor Roll). Kids work hard to be on the Honor Roll, usually with help from home. There's nothing any more "wrong" with them expressing their joy in those achievements than there is in Ms. Moorer expressing John Henry's breakthrough moments in a book she's making money from. To denigrate children who may or may not have their OWN struggles (what child has no struggles? or what parent, in this crazy world?) is an arrogant and a shameful ploy for pity for herself. I'm disappointed, but having had personal encounters with this author, where she is ungrateful, self-absorbed and flaunts her money (sharing a casserole recipe I made in my Dutch oven, a $700 Le Creuset OF COURSE)...... But sadly, I'm not surprised. I wish I had never read this book and feel terribly for her son.