I read this book quite awhile ago, so I can't be too detailed right now. I'll add to and edit this review later, but for now, I just remember it spent about six months on my nightstand. That's impressive. - Jane

I read this book quite awhile ago, so I can't be too detailed right now. I'll add to and edit this review later, but for now, I just remember it spent about six months on my nightstand. That's impressive. - Jane

This is a great read. A few portions got a bit dense, but the book really changed the way I think about those who have the neurological abnormalities described by Sacks. The best part is the length of each story; even if you have a limited amount of time you can read an entire case study.

As a graduate student in the field of biology and psychology, I found this to be the perfect blend of both. Although a collection of different case studies in the field of neuropsychology, anyone with even a slight interest in the understanding of the human brain will enjoy this book. Despite a large amount of clinical and science jargon, the book is easy to comprehend. This is a simple book with a straightforward approach of showing normal people what it could be like if they ever had a brain disorder. Dr. Sacks has a great ability in transforming his clinical experiences into something that can be appreciated by the non-clinical individual. He opens up a world that the majority of society would hope to never have to witness in their lives; he is a gatekeeper into a parallel universe. All of these patients physically live in our world but with each different disorder there is another world that can barely be imagined. He is able to capture the "human essence" in every patient even though if we were to see the same patients in a ward or on the street we would never think of them as being similar to you or me. This book is a monument to clinical literature; it is able to emotionally move us and question the happiness we have in our lives. The beauty of Dr. Sacks literature, is that he makes us value and appreciate the small and everyday things in our life.
The book is split up into four sections; each is a different realm of disorders: losses, excesses, transports, and the world of the simple. In the first section of the book, `Losses', Sacks explores deficits, the subject that most think of when told that someone they know has a disorder. In deficits, individuals lose the ability of certain cognitive tasks that we take for granted. Sacks investigates several types of losses; the most prominent of which are agnosias, aphasias, apraxias, and of course amnesia. Each loss affects the individual differently; sometimes they are able to cope and other times the experience is pure horror. The second section of the book addresses excesses. The patients in this section are the "hypers" and generally are in some sort of excited stage. Although alert and on point closer observation finds that it is not a state in which they wish to be . It takes a lot out of a patient to always be "on the go." The third section deals with transports, dreamy states that can occur. These individuals are always reminiscing or remembering a moment in their lives; sometimes it is an unwanted image, sometimes a pleasant memory. For some it has become a blessing but for others a curse. The fourth section identifies the world of the simple, an appropriate title because the patients found in this section all have IQs below sixty. By contemporary standards of society, that would make these individuals mentally retarded. However, Sacks actually learns from each of these patients to look beyond the struggles and obstacles they face. They teach him that the small pleasures of life make one happy such as music, numbers, drawing; and other forms of expression. Sacks learns that not everyone needs to communicate through words.
The structure of this book is quite straightforward; Sacks tells his stories of interesting clinical tales in the field of neuropsychology and writes them in a book that can be read by the non-clinical individuals. I enjoy the set up of each section because he introduces each section explaining the general problem. Each chapter is the story of a patient and how he overcame his disability or what happened to the patient after his meeting with Dr.Sacks.
This book is a great example of the medical community trying to reach out to the everyday reader. Although each actual diagnosis may be complicated for a non-medical reader to understand, each underlying problem is quite easy to comprehend when broken down. That is why Sacks is such a great writer; he gives both sides of the story and he gives the actual medical problem. Then he goes back and explains what the disorder actually disrupts in the patient's brain. He is able to show what everyday functions are lost and why the problem is a nuisance to the individual. I am impressed that Sacks was able to group the disorders in the way that he did. Not only does this book explain the biology behind the problem, but he even goes into the methodology that he uses to diagnosis his patients. Although, he may have the best technology and pharmaceuticals at his beck and call, by simply listening to his patients and understanding their problem he is actually better suited in helping them.
The only thing that I did not like was that he would reference another patient from one of his other books that has a similar disorder. This was a bit confusing because sometimes I would not realize which patient he was talking about. I liked the proportion of the stories to each section. It showed which disorders are more prominent and common within neurological disorders.
I preferred the stories in which Sacks got to really know and understand his patient. There were some stories that were quite short where it mostly just gave a diagnosis and then the patient was never heard of again. I understand that Sacks wanted to give the reader a broad spectrum of different neurological disorders. However, the more personal stories were more heartfelt and showed the pain and frustration of the patient living with the problem.
Also, it would have been more interesting for the reader if Sacks had follow-up appointments with the patients that we knew so well. As a neurologist he had no obligation to do so after the primary diagnosis. But it would be fascinating to see how these individuals are able to live their lives, especially in the case of patients whose lives were greatly affected. I wish that Sacks would have added more stories to the book overall, but that would have been too many stories to compile. In the greater scheme of things there is almost nothing for me to change. This book has fueled my passion for neuropsychology even more. I am grateful for a physician from my projected field of study to write such a wonderful book.
In the following quote Sacks is able to show is joy and pride of being a physician. It clearly shows the love and passion that he has for his patients. As a neurologist he does not always want to be the one giving the answer straightforward. Some times it is nice to see if the patient is given all of the puzzle pieces can they figure out the final picture.

"I love to see: a patient in the actual moment of discovery- half appalled, half amused- seeing for the first time exactly what is wrong and, in the same moment, exactly what there is to be done. This is the therapeutic moment."
Losses section On the Level

From this quote Sacks is trying to show the reader what each patient must endure with their sickness. Even though each disorder causes the patients to deal with life in a way they probably never imagined, it causes them to be a stronger individual.

"Only great pain is the ultimate liberator of the spirit."
Excess section Witty Ticcy Ray


Lastly is a quote that captures what Sacks is trying to explain to his reader about the neurologically impaired. We must not look at each patient's problem but who they are as an individual.

"She had come apart, horribly, in formal testing, but now she was mysteriously `together' and composed."
The World of the Simple section Rebecca

Overall this has been one of the best non-fiction case study books that I have ever read. It is not a complicated read. On the other hand, Sacks purposely tries to write it in such a way that the majority of individuals can just pick it up and read it. Sacks is able to teach his readers the value of everyday cognitive processes. Things that we take for granted such as remembering our family or being able to do things independently are lost for some of these patients. He is able to show us the life struggle that all of his patients must suffer. Sometimes they want to give up but for some reason they keep treading. The book illustrates the emotion and hardship of living in a world that one cannot escape. Many of the patients feel trapped and taken over by their disorders. But with faith and the help of modern medicine many of these patients are able to overcome the disorder and lead a fairly normal life. This is a book of the trials of the human spirit and the amazing power of the brain.
I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the brain and how the mind works or for individuals who are studying in the field of neuroscience or psychology. This is a great find. Although some of the reading may be a bit too clinical or scientific, but the main concept is still easy to obtain; or if you just want an emotional rollercoaster, you should definitely pick up this book.

As a graduate student in the field of biology and psychology, I found this to be the perfect blend of both. Although a collection of different case studies in the field of neuropsychology, anyone with even a slight interest in the understanding of the human brain will enjoy this book. Despite a large amount of clinical and science jargon, the book is easy to comprehend. This is a simple book with a straightforward approach of showing normal people what it could be like if they ever had a brain disorder. Dr. Sacks has a great ability in transforming his clinical experiences into something that can be appreciated by the non-clinical individual. He opens up a world that the majority of society would hope to never have to witness in their lives; he is a gatekeeper into a parallel universe. All of these patients physically live in our world but with each different disorder there is another world that can barely be imagined. He is able to capture the "human essence" in every patient even though if we were to see the same patients in a ward or on the street we would never think of them as being similar to you or me. This book is a monument to clinical literature; it is able to emotionally move us and question the happiness we have in our lives. The beauty of Dr. Sacks literature, is that he makes us value and appreciate the small and everyday things in our life.
The book is split up into four sections; each is a different realm of disorders: losses, excesses, transports, and the world of the simple. In the first section of the book, `Losses', Sacks explores deficits, the subject that most think of when told that someone they know has a disorder. In deficits, individuals lose the ability of certain cognitive tasks that we take for granted. Sacks investigates several types of losses; the most prominent of which are agnosias, aphasias, apraxias, and of course amnesia. Each loss affects the individual differently; sometimes they are able to cope and other times the experience is pure horror. The second section of the book addresses excesses. The patients in this section are the "hypers" and generally are in some sort of excited stage. Although alert and on point closer observation finds that it is not a state in which they wish to be . It takes a lot out of a patient to always be "on the go." The third section deals with transports, dreamy states that can occur. These individuals are always reminiscing or remembering a moment in their lives; sometimes it is an unwanted image, sometimes a pleasant memory. For some it has become a blessing but for others a curse. The fourth section identifies the world of the simple, an appropriate title because the patients found in this section all have IQs below sixty. By contemporary standards of society, that would make these individuals mentally retarded. However, Sacks actually learns from each of these patients to look beyond the struggles and obstacles they face. They teach him that the small pleasures of life make one happy such as music, numbers, drawing; and other forms of expression. Sacks learns that not everyone needs to communicate through words.
The structure of this book is quite straightforward; Sacks tells his stories of interesting clinical tales in the field of neuropsychology and writes them in a book that can be read by the non-clinical individuals. I enjoy the set up of each section because he introduces each section explaining the general problem. Each chapter is the story of a patient and how he overcame his disability or what happened to the patient after his meeting with Dr.Sacks.
This book is a great example of the medical community trying to reach out to the everyday reader. Although each actual diagnosis may be complicated for a non-medical reader to understand, each underlying problem is quite easy to comprehend when broken down. That is why Sacks is such a great writer; he gives both sides of the story and he gives the actual medical problem. Then he goes back and explains what the disorder actually disrupts in the patient's brain. He is able to show what everyday functions are lost and why the problem is a nuisance to the individual. I am impressed that Sacks was able to group the disorders in the way that he did. Not only does this book explain the biology behind the problem, but he even goes into the methodology that he uses to diagnosis his patients. Although, he may have the best technology and pharmaceuticals at his beck and call, by simply listening to his patients and understanding their problem he is actually better suited in helping them.
The only thing that I did not like was that he would reference another patient from one of his other books that has a similar disorder. This was a bit confusing because sometimes I would not realize which patient he was talking about. I liked the proportion of the stories to each section. It showed which disorders are more prominent and common within neurological disorders.
I preferred the stories in which Sacks got to really know and understand his patient. There were some stories that were quite short where it mostly just gave a diagnosis and then the patient was never heard of again. I understand that Sacks wanted to give the reader a broad spectrum of different neurological disorders. However, the more personal stories were more heartfelt and showed the pain and frustration of the patient living with the problem.
Also, it would have been more interesting for the reader if Sacks had follow-up appointments with the patients that we knew so well. As a neurologist he had no obligation to do so after the primary diagnosis. But it would be fascinating to see how these individuals are able to live their lives, especially in the case of patients whose lives were greatly affected. I wish that Sacks would have added more stories to the book overall, but that would have been too many stories to compile. In the greater scheme of things there is almost nothing for me to change. This book has fueled my passion for neuropsychology even more. I am grateful for a physician from my projected field of study to write such a wonderful book.
Overall this has been one of the best non-fiction case study books that I have ever read. It is not a complicated read. On the other hand, Sacks purposely tries to write it in such a way that the majority of individuals can just pick it up and read it. Sacks is able to teach his readers the value of everyday cognitive processes. Things that we take for granted such as remembering our family or being able to do things independently are lost for some of these patients. He is able to show us the life struggle that all of his patients must suffer. Sometimes they want to give up but for some reason they keep treading. The book illustrates the emotion and hardship of living in a world that one cannot escape. Many of the patients feel trapped and taken over by their disorders. But with faith and the help of modern medicine many of these patients are able to overcome the disorder and lead a fairly normal life. This is a book of the trials of the human spirit and the amazing power of the brain.
I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the brain and how the mind works or for individuals who are studying in the field of neuroscience or psychology. This is a great find. Although some of the reading may be a bit too clinical or scientific, but the main concept is still easy to obtain; or if you just want an emotional rollercoaster, you should definitely pick up this book.

Introduction
The sequence of independent and amazing analyses of disorders poses as a great introduction into what complications are possible in the brain and how the body will respond. Despite providing many similar examples that illustrate the same point, Sacks does a great job portraying his own astonishment at these disorders along with a glimpse of his reasoning behind them. More so, I particularly liked how Sacks' descriptions were simple and clear so that a wide variety of readers other than neuroscientists would be able to relate and follow the stories.

Brief Synopsis
The book is divided into four sections: losses, excesses, transport, and the world of the simple. Each section contains a variety of examples that convey the significance of the section. The first section, losses, starts off by Sacks outlining a brief history of neuroscience and the science behind neurological losses, which is followed by the chapter titled after the book. In this account, Dr. P., a renowned musician with severely impaired vision, has great difficulty recognizing simple objects and is diagnosed with complications within the parietal and occipital lobes. Other stories of losses follow such as accounts about proprioception, phantom limbs, visual complications, and aphasia.
The second section, excesses, describes a variety of cases where patients have enhanced perceptions and on some accounts feel "too well" or "dangerously well" (90). These stories look at Tourette's syndrome syphilis, Korsakov's disease, and schizophrenia. However, different from the first section, a number of these patients feel blessed and "could not imagine life without Tourette's" (98) as they feel "free" and "drunk" (101).
The third section, transport, focuses on patients with reminiscence that have strong and relatively consistently reoccurring memories. Mrs. O'C is somewhat deaf but once had a dream of her childhood in Ireland and from then on had frequently reoccurring Irish songs played in her head at deafening volumes. The rest of the section accounts similar cases of `musical epilepsy' and reminiscence along with an interesting case of an increase in the perception of smell based on a dream.
The fourth section, the world of the simple, recalls accounts of Sacks working with retardates and how these are, based on Luria's experience, "the most moving and interesting of his entire professional career" (173).

Opinion About Book
The book is well divided and an interesting narrative of Oliver Sacks' encounters as a neuroscientist in the 1970s and 1980s. One of the most interesting features of the book is how he decided to explain his observations and how shocked many of the outcomes appeared to him, as was apparent with his style of language and grammar used. For example, nearly every sentence contained several parts, each separated by multiple commas and contained a variety of interesting and exciting adjectives. After reading several recently published novels and articles, the cases he described in 1985 are now more thoroughly explained yet his observations provide a more naive, innocent, wide-eyed perspective into these neurological complications and probably laid down some of the grounds for recent discoveries and knowledge. This perspective allows the reader to better relate and understand the circumstances as Sacks seems to be in a similarly uninformed boat. My favorite example of this style of description is within chapter ten called "Witty Ticcy Ray," where Sacks describes Ray, a man with a slight case of Tourette's syndrome, and how he has come to accept and love his "disorder." Most notably, I enjoyed how Sacks felt shocked on how Ray "could not imagine life without Tourette's" since this disorder was characterized by a sudden burst of energy and a production of nervous tics, jerks, and. Nevertheless, Ray's life was defined by this disorder and gave him a "drunk" feeling that opened his creative side.
Another great story is within chapter two titled `The Lost Mariner," where Jimmie G. had suffered from retro amnesia in 1970 due to excessive drinking and was unable to remember anything after his war days in 1945. I enjoyed how Sacks proved this disorder to the otherwise ignorant Jimmie G. by placing a mirror in front of him and how shocked Jimmie was at this discovery. (However, Jimmie G. forgot all about it within several minutes and went right back to his normal belief as he had severe amnesia.) Jimmie G. was even amazed at his brother's image and how he had aged so much in such a short period of time relative to Jimmie and claimed "some people age more than others." Sacks' skill for writing these narratives in a logical and comprehensive manner from multiple perspectives enhances the stories even further by providing small details that allow the reader to fully understand the problem and diagnosis. It is also very helpful to have the postscripts after most chapters that highlight his main points and also discuss more in detail the significance of such disorders and complications and why they are so important.
Despite being well organized and interesting, I felt the Sacks' writing was a bit choppy and overflowed with commas and punctuation. Very few sentences were easy to read and, in some cases, sentences spanned nearly entire paragraphs, as is apparent on page 151. In addition, since the book was written in 1985 and Sacks is from London, his vocabulary, grammar, and style will seem unorthodox to someone of American origin.

Summary
Overall Sacks produced a very high-quality novel, despite the long-winded sentences and excessive punctuation usage, and provided a very interesting and captivating sequence of stories. His perspectives along with his details of each account make him a reliable narrator. More importantly, he presented cases that are relatively common and provide great insight into how these patients feel and cope with such disabilities and complications. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to learn more about neurological disorders without too much technical language and prior knowledge. It will lay a great foundation of conditions while sparking further interest in the field of neuroscience.

Introduction
The sequence of independent and amazing analyses of disorders poses as a great introduction into what complications are possible in the brain and how the body will respond. Despite providing many similar examples that illustrate the same point, Sacks does a great job portraying his own astonishment at these disorders along with a glimpse of his reasoning behind them. More so, I particularly liked how Sacks' descriptions were simple and clear so that a wide variety of readers other than neuroscientists would be able to relate and follow the stories.

Brief Synopsis
The book is divided into four sections: losses, excesses, transport, and the world of the simple. Each section contains a variety of examples that convey the significance of the section. The first section, losses, starts off by Sacks outlining a brief history of neuroscience and the science behind neurological losses, which is followed by the chapter titled after the book. In this account, Dr. P., a renowned musician with severely impaired vision, has great difficulty recognizing simple objects and is diagnosed with complications within the parietal and occipital lobes. Other stories of losses follow such as accounts about proprioception, phantom limbs, visual complications, and aphasia.
The second section, excesses, describes a variety of cases where patients have enhanced perceptions and on some accounts feel "too well" or "dangerously well" (90). These stories look at Tourette's syndrome syphilis, Korsakov's disease, and schizophrenia. However, different from the first section, a number of these patients feel blessed and "could not imagine life without Tourette's" (98) as they feel "free" and "drunk" (101).
The third section, transport, focuses on patients with reminiscence that have strong and relatively consistently reoccurring memories. Mrs. O'C is somewhat deaf but once had a dream of her childhood in Ireland and from then on had frequently reoccurring Irish songs played in her head at deafening volumes. The rest of the section accounts similar cases of `musical epilepsy' and reminiscence along with an interesting case of an increase in the perception of smell based on a dream.
The fourth section, the world of the simple, recalls accounts of Sacks working with retardates and how these are, based on Luria's experience, "the most moving and interesting of his entire professional career" (173).

Opinion About Book
The book is well divided and an interesting narrative of Oliver Sacks' encounters as a neuroscientist in the 1970s and 1980s. One of the most interesting features of the book is how he decided to explain his observations and how shocked many of the outcomes appeared to him, as was apparent with his style of language and grammar used. For example, nearly every sentence contained several parts, each separated by multiple commas and contained a variety of interesting and exciting adjectives. After reading several recently published novels and articles, the cases he described in 1985 are now more thoroughly explained yet his observations provide a more naive, innocent, wide-eyed perspective into these neurological complications and probably laid down some of the grounds for recent discoveries and knowledge. This perspective allows the reader to better relate and understand the circumstances as Sacks seems to be in a similarly uninformed boat. My favorite example of this style of description is within chapter ten called "Witty Ticcy Ray," where Sacks describes Ray, a man with a slight case of Tourette's syndrome, and how he has come to accept and love his "disorder." Most notably, I enjoyed how Sacks felt shocked on how Ray "could not imagine life without Tourette's" since this disorder was characterized by a sudden burst of energy and a production of nervous tics, jerks, and. Nevertheless, Ray's life was defined by this disorder and gave him a "drunk" feeling that opened his creative side.
Another great story is within chapter two titled `The Lost Mariner," where Jimmie G. had suffered from retro amnesia in 1970 due to excessive drinking and was unable to remember anything after his war days in 1945. I enjoyed how Sacks proved this disorder to the otherwise ignorant Jimmie G. by placing a mirror in front of him and how shocked Jimmie was at this discovery. (However, Jimmie G. forgot all about it within several minutes and went right back to his normal belief as he had severe amnesia.) Jimmie G. was even amazed at his brother's image and how he had aged so much in such a short period of time relative to Jimmie and claimed "some people age more than others." Sacks' skill for writing these narratives in a logical and comprehensive manner from multiple perspectives enhances the stories even further by providing small details that allow the reader to fully understand the problem and diagnosis. It is also very helpful to have the postscripts after most chapters that highlight his main points and also discuss more in detail the significance of such disorders and complications and why they are so important.
Despite being well organized and interesting, I felt the Sacks' writing was a bit choppy and overflowed with commas and punctuation. Very few sentences were easy to read and, in some cases, sentences spanned nearly entire paragraphs, as is apparent on page 151. In addition, since the book was written in 1985 and Sacks is from London, his vocabulary, grammar, and style will seem unorthodox to someone of American origin.

Summary
Overall Sacks produced a very high-quality novel, despite the long-winded sentences and excessive punctuation usage, and provided a very interesting and captivating sequence of stories. His perspectives along with his details of each account make him a reliable narrator. More importantly, he presented cases that are relatively common and provide great insight into how these patients feel and cope with such disabilities and complications. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to learn more about neurological disorders without too much technical language and prior knowledge. It will lay a great foundation of conditions while sparking further interest in the field of neuroscience.

I had to read chapters of this book for a cognitive neuroscience class, but everywhere this book went, people had to look at it and read it. It's so interesting, it reads really fast, and you really can read it in pieces as I did. In fact, a lot of the chapters gets a bit repetitive, so I tended to skip around. Still, you get a really good feel for the patients and their experience, and what that may tell us about how the brain works. Fascinating!!

This is an amazing book. It completely changes a reader's perspective on the study and practice of Neurology. While not every observation may yet be backed by research, the way that Dr Sacks approaches a problem is unique and inspiring. Read it before you start your Neurology term to arouse curiosity in even the most mundane of clinic patients!

This is an amazing book. It completely changes a reader's perspective on the study and practice of Neurology. While not every observation may yet be backed by research, the way that Dr Sacks approaches a problem is unique and inspiring. Read it before you start your Neurology term to arouse curiosity in even the most mundane of clinic patients!

Book arrived promptly after ordering and was in good condition. I would buy from this seller again,

I have not received the books yet. I am in Germany and hope I get it soon.

I have not received the books yet. I am in Germany and hope I get it soon.

I bought this book years ago and I still think it's one of the best I ever read. It's a permanent part of my library.

While reading "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat," I had the feeling I was reading a book written by a serious doctor who has the giddy sense of also being a writer. Sacks has a good hand at writing, more or less, until he steers into the circular quagmire of medical and philosophical notation. The case studies are fascinating, often eerie, tales of bodies and mental wiring gone mad. Less cheers for the medical explanations that dips too far into scientific minutiae.

This book has helped me in so many ways to understand the human mind. I can't say enough about this book, except to tell people to buy it.

Be thankful after reading this book,
Be thankful you do not have one of these very interesting yet severe neuropsychological illnesses.

a great book, very interesting, it teaches you a lot about the human body and mind, and as someone famous once said, it shows you how "whatever can go wrong, will go wrong".

I would not miss it!

This book was assigned text for a neuropsych. class I had during my undergraduate degree. It was by far the best text I've had assigned in any class. This book, along with Ramachandran's, Phantom's in the Brain, was the first time I even considered the Nature side of the Nature/Nurture debate. I will never forget the stories. Learning about these cases with brain disorders left me with such a sense of awe for what the brain can do. Sacks has a wonderful writing style that turns philosophical at the end of each story, so you are left with a lot of food for thought. It is also a great exercise to follow his choices at each step and weight it against what you may have done.

This book is full of tales of interesting anomalies in the brain. Oliver Sacks tells each story in a way that conveys his passion for the topic. Very enjoyable reading for those interested in the mysteries of the human mind.

This book was required for a cluster class I took. I am keeping the book even though I dropped the class because it has wonderful and interesting viewpoints of others who have to cope with life different than most of us. I would recommend this to a friend.

A neurologist, Oliver Sacks, discussed and brought to light the neurological disorders in case by case in this book with an interesting choice of the title: "Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat." This is the first book by Sacks that I have read, and I found his writing style to be quite enjoyable.

Not only that, this book contains an extraordinary collection of cases of individuals with neurological disorders that brings one to understand a bit on how human brain works. While this book was first published in the early 1970s and the understanding of the human brain mechanism has changed and increased since then, I found this book to be very insightful.

Out of all the cases I have read from this book, I found the following cases (or stories) to be of great interest to me: "Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat," "The Man Who Fell Out of Bed," "Witty Ticcy Ray," "Cupid's disease," and "The Autist Artist."

This book is a fascinating read and deeply recommended.

Great story, fascinating, even if you are not in the field, it will give insight into how others think!

This is a completely fascinating read! This will convice any reader of the massive complexity of the brain without reading like JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association)! Oliver Sacks has a talent for riveting readers. This was the very first book of his that I read. You will not be disappointed!

Definitely a great read--but it is far from comical (which the title sort of suggests). It deals much more with psychology/philosophy surrounding each case than techy science behind it (well, it has no techy science behind it). However, at times I found it depressing to read though.

"The Man Who Mistook His Wife," by Oliver Sacks, is a terrific collection of cases taken by neurologist Oliver Sacks--a whole host of incredibly unusual conditions suffered by an eclectic range of patients. These stories serve as terrific examples of just how fragile a balance the inner workings of our minds have to maintain lest they suddenly begin functioning in ways that can make our lives difficult.

These stories include the title story's Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, a man who developed a condition in which he couldn't visually focus on any area larger than a couple of inches, making it so the brown of a hat looked just like the brown of his wife's hair. There's also an account in the book of a man who, many decades later, still believed he was a young sailor in World War II; a man who believed his leg was not his own; and a man whose sense of smell became insanely heightened, almost like that of a dog's.

In addition to individual stories, the book does an excellent job of discussing and illustrating the causes of such problems, delving into such maladies as aphasia and "Cupid's disease," as well as lots of others. This is an excellent read, and I highly recommend it. Oliver Sacks is evidently a terrific neurologist--the kind of conscientious find-an-answer-or-else kind of guy you'd like to have diagnosing you, should you ever require it--and he's a good writer as well. The book reads clearly, flows by quickly, and always entertains as it instructs.

This one's a keeper.

I really wanted to like this book, but in the end I had to work to finish. The patients and diagnoses are really interesting. But, the writing style made it a little hard for me to keep paying attention, he kept repeating things, and there was some conspicuous name-dropping. Overall worth the time spent reading but not as good as I'd hoped.

Excellent...Sacks continues to amaze and satisfy me with his thirst for knowledge and eloquence in this debilitating, life-changing field...He writes in a warm fashion...well aware of the human condition in himself and his patients. He easily admits personal error during therapy sessions and makes no excuses. Bravo!

"ONE OF THE GREATEST CLINICAL WRITERS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY."
---New York Times

"From world-famous neurolotist Dr. Oliver Sacks comes a bestselling collection of fascinating clinical tales representing an intriguing and touching investigation into the complexities of the human mind.

Dr. Sacks draws listeners into the strage and fascinating world of his neurologically impaired patients with humor and compassion:
here are individuals afflicted with fantastic perceptual and intellectual aberrations;
patients who have lost their memory and with it the greater part of their past;
who are no longer able to recognize people and common objects, although they can see perfectly;
who are possessed by violent tics and grimaces or who involuntarily shout obscenities;
whose own limbs have become alien;
who have been dismissed as retarded,
yet are gifted with unexpected strengths and talents.

At once inconceivably strange and deeply human,
these tales are studies of life struggling against incredible adversity,
and they enable us to enter the world of the neurologically impaired,
to imagine with our hearts what it must be to live and feel as they do."

"Oliver Sacks is Professor of Clinical Neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine."

"The book
THE MAN WHO MISTOOK HIS WIFE FOR A HAT
is published by Harper Petennial

Contents: 2 audio cassettes in standard plastic cases inside the paper case.
Running time: Approximately 3 hours.
Abridged with music.

Performance and copyright 1990 HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.
ISBN 1 55994 368 8."
[from the back of case]

I bought this book for only one of its chapters as research for a screenplay, but ended up reading the whole thing. It is fascinating and will give you an appreciation for your own (hopefully functioning) brain. Each story is complete in itself, so it would make for good commuting or bedtime reading.

Dr. Sacks' collection of clinical tales is obviously outdated, however this is not its greatest flaw. All of these stories are indeed remarkable, and they speak to the mysterious nature of the human mind and of course to human resilience. It is incredibly fascinating to think how one's individual nature and function can change in response to a neurological change. Dr. Sacks attempts to introduce and involve the reader in his patients' lives, but unfortunately fails to do so. The reader only establishes a superficial connection with the "client," as Dr. Sacks treats his patients as if they were just scientific specimens. In particular, I had a problem with his language and judgment. In "The World of the Simple," he talks about a mentally retarded girl Rebecca..."one sees this with infants, one sees it with the senile, most poignantly, with the Rebeccas of this world" (186). Rebeccas of this world? I was under the impression that he wrote this book to present the individuality and uniqueness of his patients? He simply calls her "mentally defective" (185). In talking about his Autist Artist, Dr. Sacks concludes that Jose will just "do nothing, and spend a useless, fruitless life, as so many other autistic people do, overlooked, unconsidered, in the back ward of a state hospital." I completely agree that people suffering from autism should be given a chance in the workplace, to be offered opportunities to live a real life. However, I do not agree that it is up to Dr. Sacks to decide and declare Jose's life fruitless if he does not work lives up to his social value. Aside from Dr. Sacks' extremely pretentious tone, he does attempt to explore the inner life and conflict of his patients in an interesting way.

Each mind described in this book is completely enthralling. You're left wanting to hear more - wondering how Dr. Sacks could hold back from experiments and asking question after question. On the contrary, Dr. Sacks treats all these patients with a high degree of respect and patience. I'm still pondering some of the questions raised in the book - interesting enough, the one that I most remember is the question about our soul...

One of the most stolen books in our high school library and a very good read for all ages,this is but one of several eclectic books by Oliver Sacks,part of whose work was the subject of the movie Awakenings.

If your interested in the mechanics of the human mind or just enjoy science--this is the book for you.

One of several great books by Dr. Sacks. Utterly fascinating and touching and saddening at the same time. Highly recommend this for anyone in medicine or anyone interested in the workings of the mind.

One of several great books by Dr. Sacks. Utterly fascinating and touching and saddening at the same time. Highly recommend this for anyone in medicine or anyone interested in the workings of the mind.

This book has really cool stories. I ordered it for a class and I was surprised by how cool it was!

This book has really cool stories. I ordered it for a class and I was surprised by how cool it was!

I don't know... things seem a little too tidy with Dr. Sachs' stories. His characters are always "charming" persons, with "delightful" senses of humor. The title character is such a person who also happens to be a brilliant musician and painter, whose paintings, by golly, morph with time to trace the onset of his disease. His second subject, a man who cannot form new memories (like the protagonist in a later Hollywood film, Memento) nonetheless finds himself getting bored solving old puzzles. (If you can't remember anything, how does boredom set in?) In another account, he assigns super-human powers of discernement to a room full of otherwise incapcitated patients as they laugh at a broadcast of a political figure that Sachs obviously doesn't like. Be careful how seriously you take these stories, nothing jazzes up a tall tale like a claim of authenticity.

An Oliver is s'posed to be a doctor of the brain, but instead he puts pins in his patients an says "Lookie, lookie this one is broken." I guess it's "a heartwarming look at humanity and perception" only if you aint broken nor a doctor who's s'posed to fix the problem, like a bone doc who says "I caint fix his leg, but don't he walk funny?" and then everybody sees old Oliver with his beard and gnomic smile and goes "how deep, how deep." I would buy his crap if'n I sensed just a dollop of guilt that he's failed as a doctor but made it rich as a carnival barker.

There can be no doubt that Oliver Sacks is a deeply caring physician, a premier neurologist, and a fascinating writer. His books are a joy to read: a celebration of the indomitability of the human psyche (or as some would say, less scientifically, the human spirit). His collections of "case histories" for lay audiences highlight not only his patients' deficiencies but, more to the point, their strengths. As one of his patients reminded members of his profession, "We paid far too much attention to the defects of our patients . . . and far too little to what was intact or preserved."

Keeping this gentle rebuke constantly in mind, Sacks not only determines the hurdles faced by his patients but also charts a path through which they can live full, fulfilling lives. Thus, an "idiot" (so described by a caretaker) becomes a competent artist. A handyman, who has lost his sense of balance, walks upright again with the help of ingenious yet simple devices he designed for himself. A patient with Tourette's learns to live with his symptoms on the weekends (to perform as a jazz drummer) and live without them during the week, with the aid of haldol.

In each chapter, then, is one person's story of frustration (or sometimes of obliviousness) and triumph. As a whole, however (and this is my only complaint about Sacks's books), the "clinical tales" seem disjointed and random. The author organizes them, somewhat arbitrarily, by the vague categories based on the patients' symptoms: neurological loss, excess, visions and hallucinations, and the "simple." (That psychologists and neurologists still classify diseases by their symptoms rather than their causes is surely a reflection on the still-primitive investigations into the workings of the brain. Imagine if your family doctor still grouped an ulcer with e. coli.)

The result of this emphasis on symptoms has the unintentional effect of making patients occasionally seem like curiosities, oddly reminiscent of the "All Creatures Great and Small" series by James Herriot. (This view is only amplified by the book's memorable, sensationalist title.) Yet I'm not sure how Sacks could have prevented this perception and still retained the interest of readers--perhaps by discussing more often and more thoroughly the possible and probable neurological causes of various mental deficiencies, perhaps by arranging his book as a narrative rather than episodically.

In the end, however, this quibble about the book's thematic approach doesn't undermine its value for the reader--and it most certainly doesn't weaken Sacks's reputation as an extraordinarily humane practitioner.

One trend in contemporary healthcare that I find particularly disturbing is the degradation of doctor-patient relationships - realistically or not, I fear a future in which patients will be viewed not so much as people, but as pathologies. As a step towards preserving the humanism of the medical profession, I propose that The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat become required reading for everyone involved. Written between 1970 and 1985, the stories that Dr. Sacks recounts are by turns fascinating, bizarre, and profoundly moving. Not every case that he encountered could be fully elucidated at the time, but whatever current science lacked in its understanding of the disorders, Dr. Sacks more than compensated for with a supreme understanding of his patients. This book teaches us that when the problem lies inside the mind, the identity of the patient is more than indispensable - in the hands of a perceptive and empathetic doctor, it can actually become the most powerful medicine available.

This book definitely had a fascinating collection of anecdotes but at the end of each story, I felt I was left hanging.

I just finished reading 'The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat' by Oliver Sacks. I'm so glad that I bought this book. The author is a neurologist who describes some of his most fascinating patients. I feel like these characters will stick with me for the rest of my life. Among the characters you'll meet in this book are a music teacher(the title character) who can no longer recognize faces, twins diagnosed retarded who can generate six-digit primes, and a murderer who forgets his crime. There's also a sailor who is convinced that it is still 1965. The cases themselves are amazing but Sacks treats their stories with a beautiful kind of dignity. Sacks never loses sight of the person, of the soul, that he treats. This book left me with a deep sense of gratitude and a fresh hope in humanity.

Author of
THE TRUTH
ABOUT CAFFEINE

This is my favorite book! It's fantastic! You can't put it down and the stories stay with you for years. You can pick it up in any chapter and it's quite funny as well. Beautifully written.

just finished reading 'The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat' by Oliver Sacks. I'm so glad that I bought this book. The author is a neurologist who describes some of his most fascinating patients. I feel like these characters will stick with me for the rest of my life. Among the characters you'll meet in this book are a music teacher(the title character) who can no longer recognize faces, twins diagnosed retarded who can generate six-digit primes, and a murderer who forgets his crime. There's also a sailor who is convinced that it is still 1965. The cases themselves are amazing but Sacks treats their stories with a beautiful kind of dignity. Sacks never loses sight of the person, of the soul, that he treats. This book left me with a deep sense of gratitude and a fresh hope in humanity.

I gave up caffeine, or more specifically I gave up caffeinated sodas. This resulted in me getting a lot more sleep than I am accustomed to. I could not keep myself awake at all, and believe me, I tried hard. And then yesterday I decided to have a Dr Pepper. Which turned into two Dr Peppers, and a gigantic Coke at the movies. And a Dr Pepper at breakfast, and one after lunch. So now I am awake, back on my regular three-hour-sleep schedule. Freaking junkie. I finally bought this book called "The Truth About Caffeine" by Marina Kushner and it really convinced me to quit for good.

Oliver Sacks' "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat" is an incredible and fascinating book--I highly recommend it. The book is divided into a number of stories/clinical tales about various patients Dr. Sacks has seen over the years who have exhibited strange symptoms or ailments due to damage in the right hemisphere of the brain (his summary of the differences between the left and right sections of the brain, and how the disorders of the right half have not been given nearly enough attention by the medical community, is also really interesting). All of the stories caught my attention, but "The Disembodied Lady" was probably the most disturbing. Dr. Sacks is a neurologist who not only knows what he is talking about when it comes to medicine, but he is also deeply committed to his patients and their well-being. He is a humanist in every sense of the word. He is also a great writer--he can explain complicated medical conditions with the greatest of ease and such a sense of compassion. He also wrote the book "Awakenings" on which the movie with Robert DeNiro and Robin Williams is based.

And even then, you have a very good chance of appreciating the amount of insight that Dr. Oliver Sacks has into the minds and lives of his patients, and into life and the human condition in general. Sacks, both the author and the narrator in this book, has chosen some of his favorite, poignant, and exemplary cases from the many patients he has worked with in his home for those with neurological disorders (or, more romantically, a home for those who see the world in a completely different way.). Not only does he describe the disease and condition of the patient, he describes the life, the person, behind the disease. In some cases, he also updates the information he has with the specific patient, i.e., what the patient has gone on to do, or not to do, with their life.

Since this book is a reprint of the original version, a postscript after some of the stories describe similar patients, revelations that he has had, and the medical advances that have been made since the original writing. These also include incredible insight, as well as a sense of hindsight and fondness on the part of Sacks.

As both the writer and the narrator, Sacks exhibits both his impressive clinical knowledge and his personal feelings on each case: it is obvious in reading this book that he cared about and was interested in the well being (or, if well being was impossible, simply the being) of his patients. His writing makes each of these stories, for the most part, assessable to anyone, regardless of their previous knowledge on the subjects of psychology and neurology or attention span: these short stories are comprehendible and, for the most part, concise, and are written in such a way that the reader gets drawn into the story of the patient and feel, at least partially, invested in their health as well, and make you want to keep on reading to find out how, if at all, they were cured or treated.

Whether the story is comic or tragic, whether you want to do a little more general research on neurological disorders, or if you just want to feel lucky that your body and mind work to the capacity that they do, Dr. Sacks' book The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat will keep you both informed and entertained. You don't have to be crazy to read this book, but if you are, I'm sure Dr. Sacks would understand.

I just finished reading 'The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat' by Oliver Sacks. I'm so glad that I bought this book. The author is a neurologist who describes some of his most fascinating patients. I feel like these characters will stick with me for the rest of my life. Among the characters you'll meet in this book are a music teacher(the title character) who can no longer recognize faces, twins diagnosed retarded who can generate six-digit primes, and a murderer who forgets his crime. There's also a sailor who is convinced that it is still 1965. The cases themselves are amazing but Sacks treats their stories with a beautiful kind of dignity. Sacks never loses sight of the person, of the soul, that he treats. This book left me with a deep sense of gratitude and a fresh hope in humanity.
I read recently, in an interview, that the author attributes inspiration for the book to being in excellent health. Said having quit all forms of caffeine help free the mind for more creativity. I say amen to that as I too am free with a little help from a book called "The Truth About Caffeine: How Companies That Promote it Deceive Us and What We Can Do About It" They have an excellent resource section that helped me find great tasting alternatives that I simply adore. I want to thank the author for writing a really great book.

Fascinating book, couldn't put it down once I started reading. Excellent read for anyone who has ever been interested in the workings of the mind. Even more interesting for scientists and medical professionals. In my opinion the writing style manages to satisfy both groups.

This book is simply wonderful, and I recommend this book to everyone interested in miraculous connections and relations of human body and mind, as in human destinies of those who live with these links damaged or broken.

O. Sacks has succeeded in writing a book with very interesting and perhaps complicated medical information and terminology, together with marvelous story-telling style with which every one of these true stories has the power to awake strong emotions and create lasting curiosity in every human being for the wonder of human being.

Good luck :)