Author Talk: Marian Schembari

A Little Less Broken explores one woman's decades-long journey to a diagnosis of autism and the barriers that keep too many neurodivergent people from knowing their true selves.

Marian Schembari was thirty-four years old when she learned she was autistic. By then, she'd spent decades hiding her tics and shutting down in public, wondering why she couldn't just act like everyone else. 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.

Named one of Real Simple's best books of the year and a Washington Post and People Magazine best book of the month, A Little Less Broken has been called "a gift to humanity" by Cup of Jo editor Joanna Goddard and was an Amazon Editor’s Pick for Best in Nonfiction. The book has received praise from Temple Grandin, Amelia Nagoski, Susannah Cahalan, and Marie Forleo, among others.

In this deeply personal and researched memoir, Schembari’s journey takes her from the mountains of New Zealand to the tech offices of San Francisco, from her first love to her first child, all with unflinching honesty and good humor. A Little Less Broken breaks down the barriers that leave women in the dark about their own bodies and reveals what it truly means to embrace our differences.

Marian's essays about travel, friendship, money, and love have appeared in The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Good Housekeeping, and more. She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband and daughter.