Folio Society Published Works Number 2458
Sacks, Oliver - The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat
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Sacks, Oliver - The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat (Published in by The Folio Society in 2011. Illustrated by Martin O'Neill. Set in Sabon. 240 pages. Frontispiece. 9 colour illustrations and 14 integrated black & white diagrams. Book size: 9.5" × 6.25". When Dr Oliver Sacks's collection of case studies of neurobiological and neuropsychiatric conditions was first published in 1985, it touched an unexpected chord with the public, becoming an instant bestseller. Its appeal lies in our eternal fascination with how consciousness, memory and minds actually work. We meet Jimmie G., the amnesiac stuck in 1945, and the autistic twins incapable of even the simplest arithmetic but who can identify six-, eight- and ten-figure prime numbers. Some of the stories are tragic: Christina loses her 'proprioception' and is thus unable to control her own body; Stephen's amnesia leaves him with 'a gaping time-wound, an agony that will never heal'. Others are optimistic, even life-affirming, such as Mr MacGregor, who invents a pair of glasses that enable him to overcome some of the effects of Parkinson's Disease; or Rebecca, a girl with severe mental disabilities whose life is transformed when she is enrolled in a special theatre group. Throughout all the histories runs Dr Sacks's own deeply respectful and sensitive care for his patients and his ability to show us the people as well as the conditions. In the end, this book is nothing less than a philosophical exploration of what it means to be human. )
