The man who mistook his wife for a hat and other clinical tales

The man who mistook his wife for a hat and other clinical tales

Oliver W. Sacks

Book - 1998

In his most extraordinary book, "one of the great clinical writers of the 20th century" (The New York Times) recounts the case histories of patients lost in the bizarre, apparently inescapable world of neurological disorders. Oliver Sacks's The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat tells the stories of individuals afflicted with fantastic perceptual and intellectual aberrations: patients who have lost their memories and with them the greater part of their pasts; who are no longer able to recognize people and common objects; who are stricken with violent tics and grimaces or who shout involuntary obscenities; whose limbs have become alien; who have been dismissed as retarded yet are gifted with uncanny artistic or mathematical ta...lents. If inconceivably strange, these brilliant tales remain, in Dr. Sacks's splendid and sympathetic telling, deeply human. They 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. A great healer, Sacks never loses sight of medicine's ultimate responsibility: "the suffering, afflicted, fighting human subject."

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2nd Floor 616.8/Sacks Due Dec 11, 2024
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Subjects
Neurology > Anecdotes.
Published
New York, NY : Simon & Schuster 1998.
Language
English
Main Author
Oliver W. Sacks (-)
Edition
1st Touchstone ed
Item Description
"A Touchstone book."
Physical Description
x, 243 p. : ill. ; 22 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (p. 234-243).
ISBN
9780684853949
  • Preface
  • Part 1. Losses
  • Introduction
  • 1. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
  • 2. The Lost Mariner
  • 3. The Disembodied Lady
  • 4. The Man Who Fell out of Bed
  • 5. Hands
  • 6. Phantoms
  • 7. On the Level
  • 8. Eyes Right!
  • 9. The President's Speech
  • Part 2. Excesses
  • Introduction
  • 10. Witty Ticcy Ray
  • 11. Cupid's Disease
  • 12. A Matter of Identity
  • 13. Yes, Father-Sister
  • 14. The Possessed page
  • Part 3. Transports
  • Introduction
  • 15. Reminiscence
  • 16. Incontinent Nostalgia
  • 17. A Passage to India
  • 18. The Dog Beneath the Skin
  • 19. Murder
  • 20. The Visions of Hildegard
  • Part 4. The World of the Simple
  • Introduction
  • 21. Rebecca
  • 22. A Walking Grove
  • 23. The Twins
  • 24. The Autist Artist
  • Bibliography
Review by Booklist Review

Descriptions of extreme and sensational neurological disorders are tempered through Dr. Sacks' compassionate case studies that effectively humanize the sufferers' bizarre behavior.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

A neurologist who claims to be equally interested in disease and people, Sacks (Awakenings, etc.) explores neurological disorders with a novelist's skill and an appreciation of his patients as human beings. These cases, some of which have appeared in literary or medical publications, illustrate the tragedy of losing neurological facultiesmemory, powers of visualization, word-recognitionor the also-devastating fate of those suffering an excess of neurological functions causing such hyper states as chorea, tics, Tourette's syndrome and Parkinsonism. Still other patients experience organically based hallucinations, transports, visions, etc., usually deemed to be psychic in nature. The science of neurology, Sacks charges, stresses the abstract and computerized at the expense of judgment and emotional depthsin his view, the most important human qualities. Therapy for brain-damaged patients (by medication, accommodation, music or art) should, he asserts, be designed to help restore the essentially personal quality of the individual. First serial to New York Review of Books, The Sciences and Science; Reader's Subscription alternate. January (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review

Neurologist Sacks, author of Awakenings and A Leg To Stand On , presents a series of clinical tales drawn from fascinating and unusual cases encountered during his years of medical practice. Dividing his text into four parts``losses'' of neurological function; ``excesses''; ``transports'' involving reminiscence, altered perception, and imagination; and ``the simple,'' or the world of the retardedSacks introduces the reader to real people who suffer from a variety of neurological syndromes which include symptoms such as amnesia, uncontrolled movements, and musical hallucinations. Sacks recounts their stories in a riveting, compassionate, and thoughtful manner. Written on a somewhat scholarly level, the book is highly recommended for larger collections. Debra Berlanstein, Towson State Univ. Lib., Baltimore (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

If you enjoy medical case histories that are sensitive yet lively, weird but informative, then Sacks' book is your ticket. A neurologist who writes with wit and zest, he will fascinate you with stories of patients like the man in the title--a professor who couldn't recognize faces and who patted the tops of fire hydrants believing them to be children. Nietschze asked whether we could do without disease in our lives and the author explores this interesting concept with a rare and invigorating philosophic sense. Sacks is no ordinary practitioner; his patients suffer from rare complaints like Korshakov's syndrome, Tourette's and other afflictions, some of which make the patient unsure of the reality of his own body. Their tragedies and their courage are joined with the author's astute professionalism and humanity to make for a riveting foray into the unknown. The history of these strange cases and the state of the art of medicine are deftly probed. Yet in the midst of all this tragedy, there is an eerie comic quality. Take the 80-year-old ex-prostitute who discovers a new liveliness and euphoria, which she enjoys immensely. However, the reason for this is a recurrence of an old syphilis infection. Does she want to be totally cured and lose this new found ebullience? Not really. She relishes "Cupid's disease's" strange excitation of her cerebral cortex too much. To Sacks' credit, he agrees with her. This book ranks with the very best of its genre. It will inform and entertain anyone, especially those who find medicine an intriguing and mysterious art.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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