Product Description

‘An inexhaustible tourist at the farther reaches of the mind, Sacks presents, in sparse, unsentimental prose, the stories of seven of his patients. The result is as rich, vivid and compelling as any collection of short fictional stories’ Independent on Sunday

As with his previous bestseller, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Oliver Sacks uses case studies to illustrate the myriad ways in which neurological conditions can affect our sense of self, our experience of the world, and how we relate to those around us. Writing with his trademark blend of scientific rigour and human compassion, he describes patients such as the colour-blind painter or the surgeon with compulsive tics that disappear in the operating theatre; patients for whom disorientation and alienation – but also adaptation – are inescapable facts of life.

‘Sacks’ great gift is his capacity to place himself in the position of his subjects, to see the world the way they see it and to empathize with their condition with great compassion but without patronage or pity’ Daily Telegraph

‘Writing simply and beautifully, Sacks uses individual case histories to reveal the infinite complexities of the human mind’ Daily Mail

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25337 in Books
• Published on: 2009-02-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 9999 pages

About the Author

Oliver Sacks was educated in London, Oxford, California and New York. He is a professor of clinical neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He is the author of many books, including the bestselling The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Awakenings.

Customer Reviews

Sacks covers familiar material
With the format and style of the earlier "The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat", each chapter describing a patient suffering from a particularly unusual and often spectacular neurological disorder, Sacks successfully shows how poor our understanding of the functioning of our own minds really is. More than ever his primary focus is the human aspect of mental affliction, the emotional trauma involved, presumably so he can appeal to a wider audience. I feel that the earlier book actually has the best material and is certainly a better choice if picking one title. Though the cases in "The Anthropologist" are hardly dull, it does seem a little long winded and repetitive in places - is he paid by the page? Perhaps others would disagree, but I would prefer to see more of the clinical speculation and brain-function theorizing. This is my only criticism for what is for the most part provocative and illuminating reading.

Comments on other's comments
Some of the stories are sad because of the devastating conditions but some are also inspiring because of how some of the people find a way of making life still worthwhile. In this collection I was particularly struck in this regard by the first and the last. I think Sacks gives back as much as a person is able to in his position. There are no miracle cures for these conditions in fact he says himself that the neurologist gains more from the interaction than the patient because there is little at the moment that can be done to help. It was only the thoroughness of the testing that gave the artist the green filter spectacles that he did find useful. I think he gets a more thorough understanding than would be achieved in just clinical consultations which, in the long run, will benefit patients of the future. he tries to see the person behind the condition and has a great respect for his patients.

If you have some knowledge of neuroscience and or cognitive psychology, as I have, there are bits that may sound "repetative and long-winded" only because this knowledge is already known to me. His audience is not really the knowledgable about neuroscience but the reader with little or no knowledge. I personally find them exciting stories which encourage my own speculations on brain functioning. I think it is a great book for inspiring people in this fascinating area. I also think it would broaden peoples' understanding of the behaviour of others and where it might have come from. It might help people be a bit less judgemental and dismissive, or patronising, about others whose behaviour seems "odd".

Interesting, fascinating but disturbing
I like Oliver Sacks' writings, but they tend to leave me sad at the end. He spends all this time observing people, whether they be his patients or people he's 'just visiting', but I always feel he takes away more than he gives. He's an observer, but he never seems to give anything back to make people's lives any better - there may be diagnosis, but there's no suggestions of how to improve things, so he becomes a voyeur?

Having said all that, this little collection of neurological disorders is interesting; a colour-blind painter, the last hippie, a twitching surgeon, blindsight, landscapes of a childhood, autistic artists, and high functioning autism.

Interesting, fascinating, but disturbing.