Letters

Edgar--the longtime assistant, editor, and researcher for Sacks (1933--2015)--provides an intimate window into the neurologist's personal and professional lives in this expansive collection of his correspondence. Sacks's trademark lyricism is evident throughout. For instance, a 1960 message he wrote to his family describes the dour mood in British Columbia during a drought: "The sky is low and purple, even at midday, from the smoke of innumerable fires, and the air has a terrible stultifying heat and stillness." Other entries offer insight into Sacks's distinctive approach to medical practice, which he calls "a sort of love-affair" in a 1973 letter to poet Thom Gunn ("I cannot understand anything, I cannot approach it intellectually, except as a relation, in a sort of devotion or intimacy"). Numerous celebrity scientists number among the correspondents. For example, Sacks discusses face blindness with Jane Goodall and the " 'evolution' of illness" with biologist Stephen Jay Gould. Letters to more obscure figures can be just as amusing (a groveling 1963 message implores the L.A. DMV not to suspend his license, despite his numerous traffic violations), and frequently more revealing (a series of 1965 exchanges traces the doomed love affair between Sacks and a Berlin-based Hungarian theater director). What emerges is a pointillistic portrait of an incredible intellect with all-too-human frailties and an insatiable curiosity about the human condition. This is an essential resource for understanding Sacks. (Nov.)

Getting to know the more personal side of a prolific writer. Sacks, the beloved late author, is best remembered forThe Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (1985), which collected a variety of tales that he had encountered in his clinical practice as a neurologist. In addition to more than a dozen books, he wrote numerous essays and articles, his work doing much to destigmatize mental illness and promote "patient-centered" medicine. Sacks was also a devoted writer of letters. Edgar, who was Sacks' editor, researcher, and friend, notes that the archive of his correspondence totaled roughly 200,000 pages (he kept copies of many of the letters he sent, and others were returned to his estate after Sacks' death in 2015). The early chapters include letters to relatives and highlight his youthful travels and experiences; as he grows older he recounts his evolving thinking about his patients and their therapy. In his correspondence, he emphasizes the need to engage with patients and explore innovative therapies, including music and visual art. Sacks wrote to colleagues and friends as well as fans, often with a self-deprecating sense of humor. Along the way, he addresses his recurring depression and his addiction to amphetamines. Marshaling this mountain of words must have been a herculean task, but Edgar has managed to compile a collection that is coherent and, most of all, very enjoyable. A lifetime of correspondence adds new dimensions to a brilliant mind's oeuvre. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.