Marian Schembari is an author and essayist whose first byline was at age eleven in Highlights for Kids. It was a poem about dragons. Since then, Marian’s essays about travel, friendship, money, and love have appeared in The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, and Good Housekeeping. At thirty-four years old, Marian was diagnosed with autism. She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband and daughter.

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A Little Less Broken

How an Autism Diagnosis Finally Made Me Whole

By the time Marian Schembari was thirty-four, she’d spent decades hiding her tics and shutting down in public, wondering why she couldn’t just act like everyone else. Therapists told her she had Tourette’s syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, sensory processing disorder, social anxiety, and recurrent depression. They prescribed breathing techniques and gratitude journaling. Nothing helped.

It wasn’t until years later that she finally learned the truth: she wasn’t weird or deficient or moody or sensitive or broken. She was autistic.

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“I feel weepy with gratitude for this book. Marian writes with humor, insight, and immediacy. An absolute page turner. This book is a gift to humanity — no exaggeration — and should be required reading for all. A Little Less Broken will make the world a better, more compassionate place."

— Joanna Goddard, editor of Cup of Jo

Upcoming Events

September 24, 2024

Book Launch with Tove Danovich

Portland, Oregon

Powell’s City of Books

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7pm PT
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September 25, 2024

In Conversation with Aspen Matis

San Francisco, California

Book Passage Ferry Building

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5:30pm PT
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September 30, 2024

In Conversation with Shalene Gupta

Boston, Massachusetts

Harvard Bookstore

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7pm ET
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October 1, 2024

In Conversation with Karen Dukess

Old Greenwich, Connecticut

Athena Books

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7pm ET
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October 3, 2024

In Conversation with Rosie Molinary

Davidson, North Carolina

Main Street Books

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7pm ET
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October 7, 2024

In Conversation with Joanna Goddard

New York, New York

Barnes & Noble Upper West Side

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7pm ET
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