Great and Unfortunate Things

‘Jason Arday is a remarkable and brilliant man’ – James O’Brien, Sunday Times bestselling author of How To Be Right
‘Unforgettable … That oft-used word ‘inspirational’ feels wholly inadequate to describe his incredible story of grit and resilience … a book about how it should not be so hard for a gifted, neurodivergent, working-class child of colour to shine … It is not just his trailblazing academic achievements that make Arday special. It is also his courage, his genuine humility and his clarion sense of calling’ – Caroline Sanderson * The Bookseller *
‘Imagine the remarkable Educated by Tara Westover, with further education and against perhaps even greater odds’ – Caroline Sanderson * The Bookseller, Non-fiction Book of the Month, August 2026 *
‘Arday’s cinematic story from being nonverbal to becoming one of the youngest professors ever at Cambridge makes you believe in the transformative power of grit and the magic of a mother’s love. The most inspiring book I’ve read in decades’ – Chris Gardner, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Pursuit of Happyness
‘This is a remarkable portrait of an astonishing life. Great and Unfortunate Things takes us on a spectacular journey of trial and transformation, offering crucial insight into the realities of neurodivergence, told by an author who changed the shape of his life through sheer will. Above all, this memoir is a poignant tribute to fearless mothers like Arday’s whose love, education and unshakable belief in their children will always make mountains move’ – Safiya Sinclair, international bestselling author of How to Say Babylon
‘Some lives are changed by talent. Others are changed by love that refuses to let go. In Great and Unfortunate Things, Jason Arday tells a story of resilience, dignity and the extraordinary power of those who hold steady for us when we cannot yet hold steady for ourselves. This is a beautiful and unforgettable book’ – Steve Pemberton, USA Today bestselling author of A Chance in the World
‘I love a good story. As a journalist, storytelling’s goal is to both move and inform. Arday’s story is as riveting and moving as they come. Jason’s efforts to overcome obstacles presented by his neurodivergence are movingly matched only by his mother’s extraordinary efforts to work with his differences not against them, to see the humanity where others chose to see an inky diagnosis’ – Michelle Miller, author of the New York Times bestseller Belonging: A Daughter’s Search for Identity Through Loss and Love
‘As the mother of a child on the spectrum, I was reminded once again that there is nothing more fierce than a parent’s determination to see her child get the services and attention he deserves, nothing more inspiring than a stranger with nothing to gain who asks, “how can I help?”, and nothing more empowering than intervention combined with positivity, love and grit. Read this book and prepare to be inspired’ – Holly Robinson Peete, actress, advocate and author of Same but Different: Teen Life on the Autism Express
‘It is a beautiful story, beautifully told. I found it impossible to put down’ – Rick Stroud, author of I Am Not Afraid of Looking into the Rifles

Jason Arday is a social commentator, presenter, and public speaker. He is currently the Professorial Chair of Education (Sociology of Education) at the University of Cambridge. He is the youngest-ever Black academic to hold a Professorship at Cambridge and one of the youngest academics ever appointed to a Professorial Chair in Oxbridge’s one-thousand-year history.

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