Reviews and Comments

Radical and intriguing, this isn't the common book about Autism that you find in bookshelves, especially not written in languages other than English. This groundbreaking book, written by an Autistic and transgender author, is all about those hidden, 'masked' Autistics, especially from intersectionally marginalised populations, like Black, trans, women and other marginalised genders, and people with other disabilities on top.

Dr. Price takes a radical approach of harm reduction and social justice, identifying how much harm the ableist & capitalist society inflicts on Autistics (and on other neuro-divergent and disabled people, but really on everyone), forcing them into obscuring their disabilities, so that they can conform to 'normality' and function in an alienating, industrial society that punishes our quirks. The book helps neurodivergent people identifying their disability (seen from the social model of disability), and guides neuro-divergent people how they can actualise their own identity and identity their own values and worthiness. Because society often does not permit this, the book also aims to change society itself.

Throughout the book, we are guided through Heather R. Morgan's Values-Based Integration Process, which I still want to go through, especially as I am about to start a new chapter in my own life.

The only thing I really do not like about the book is that it is only available in English. There are huge knowledge gaps and language barriers when it comes to #ActuallyAustic, as lot of great resources on Autism written by Autistic authors are only available in English. As a consequence, a lot of stereotypes about (especially masked) autism still persist. I think translations of this and similar books could really counter them.

Books written from the perspective of intersectionally are very valuable. Personally, I really enjoyed that the author is transgender himself, and there are a lot of things I could personally identify with in his story and in the stories of the diverse set of interviewed Autistics.

The book starts with an introduction to the chemical reactions in bread baking on the molecular level (chapters 1 & 2). The book also outlines the history of bread science, e.g. how models of the gluten structure have developed, and which studies and experiments contributed to the progress.

The second half of the book dedicates a chapter for each step of baking: pre-fermentation, mixing (kneading), fermentation, shaping, proofing, and baking. The chapters explain what (roughly) happens during these steps and makes references back to the first half of the book. Thus, the book explains not only how to bake, but also why to do certain things.

I think I -- a beginner at baking -- learned a lot from this book. As an introduction to the science of bread making (and to baking in general), it is really accessible and sometimes even a bit funny (e.g. due to some hand-drawn illustrations and bread comics!). The only negative thing that I notices was the writing style. However, a new edition has been published recently, which apparently improved the style (but without other improvements).

There's more to explore though! For example, there's an entire science/art around sourdough and wholegrain breads. Most of the advice given in the book target breads with (a little) yeast and refined (not wholegrain) flour. For wholegrain bread, for example, it is not advisable to punch the bread, since less gas is developed and you should thus treat the little gas preciously. I'm looking forward to reading a book about sourdough wholegrain bread with a similar focus on theory and praxis.

The self-published book is aimed at hobbyist and professional bakers alike, who want to learn more about the chemical processes during every step of baking. Bread science is interesting on its own, but it can of course also be applied to baking better artisan bread (although a large part of bread research is probably aimed at industrial-scale production).

The book doesn't go into too much details (which is probably a good thing given the audience), but makes use of citations, so curious readers can dig further into research papers.

What I particularly found interesting so far is that the book often explains the history of various aspects of bread science. Like every science, bread science is a process. For example, models that explain how gluten is structured, and how dough captures gas, evolve over time. The still common myth (or oversimplification) that gluten traps gas like a balloon, for example, was long debunked.