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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 Sacks
In his most extraordinary book, one of the great clinical writers of the twentieth century (The New York Times) recounts the case histories of patients lost in the bizarre, apparently inescapable world of neurological disorders.Oliver Sackss 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 talents. If inconceivably strange, these brilliant tales remain, in Dr. Sackss 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 medicines ultimate responsibility: the suffering, afflicted, fighting human subject.
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Shawna
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Eggs Perfect 🤩 1y
18 likes1 comment
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Lieh
Pickpick

Raced through this! Incredibly interesting, one I recommend to everyone i know!

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Blackink_WhitePaper
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This is a book with an interesting title & interesting concepts. It may be outdated but this is one of those initial books which I read about human cognition which sparked my interest in this subject.

And equally loved other book is A man called ove🥰

#alphabetgame #LetterM

Graywacke I loved reading this and found it inspiring. Great choice. 🙂 2y
Blackink_WhitePaper @Graywacke Thanks 😊 👍🏻💐 2y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Thank you for playing! 2y
36 likes1 stack add3 comments
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BriannaT
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Mehso-so

This was on a list of my “100 Books to Read Before you Die” scratch-off. It was really interesting to read about neurological disorders, and I found myself enjoying a nonfiction book for the first time in awhile. However, in the last part of his book, he uses the term “retarded” pretty often. I know it‘s from 1984 and not done in a derogatory way, but I wouldn‘t recommend the book to someone without giving them a disclaimer first.

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Magpiegem
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Pickpick

And with an hour to spare I finished my final #booked2021 prompt. It was interesting but I found some of the very outdated language hard to stomach and I wonder if this had been updated in later issues? Thank you so much to @Cinfhen @BarbaraTheBibliophage & @4thhouseontheleft for hosting this challenge. It has broadened my reading, introduced me to new authors I love and helped my TBR. I‘m feeling pretty proud of myself for completing it 😁

BarbaraTheBibliophage Wowza! Great job!! 2y
Cinfhen Yay!!!!! Well done 👍🏽 Here's the link for final quarter of #Booked2021 🎊♥️🎊♥️

https://forms.gle/dsgdzAv3TxV79wbMA
2y
Magpiegem @Cinfhen thank you I‘ve just filled in my form. And thank you to all 3 of you again for this challenge. It has been a really positive focus for me in this difficult last year xx 2y
27 likes3 comments
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Magpiegem
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In order to complete the #getbooked2021 challenge I must finish this book today! Not that I‘m a cut it fine type of person or anything! 😬 Wish me luck!!

Cinfhen Good luck 🍀👍🏻 Ive heard this book is wonderful 😊Happy New Year 2y
rockpools Good luck! 2y
19 likes2 comments
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mandarchy
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Pickpick

This book was fascinating. Lots of stories about defectology - I'm glad we call it neurodiversity today. This paragraph really hits home. I wish my son had autism instead of schizophrenia. You can talk about autism. Schizophrenia is unspeakable. There's so much to learn about the brain and its not the end of the world. #endthestigma

WJCintron Agree!! ❤ Didn't know about that book. I'll add it to my TBR. Thanks for sharing. I tagged a book I read, it's a YA book, fiction, but there are parts that are really good. You can see the point of view of the boy and what medication does, which unfortunately it's like that, they over medicate, or not medicate at all or change medication a LOT. Not fair, and that's what I like about the book. I don't know if you read it. 2y
mandarchy @WJCintron I haven't read that. I'll have to check it out. Medication is crazy. My favorite med problem is when they change the color shape or size of a med used by a paranoid schizophrenic. 🤔 really makes it hard to stay with the program. 2y
mandarchy @WJCintron wow! I just looked at it and added it to my tbr list. Looks really good. 2y
WJCintron @mandarchy It gets better as you read. LOVE that you are in his head, and get to see what he's thinking, feeling and how he reacts to medication. They made a movie. I didn't like it at ALL! lol maybe it's just me, but the book is way better. The theme of religion at first, I didn't like all the criticism, it hit a nerve, but then that stops and you see the purpose at the end. Hope you like it! 👍 😃 2y
mandarchy @WJCintron when I looked at the book profile I saw that they had made a movie, but the reviews didn't look good. 2y
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mandarchy
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#thoughtfulthursday @MoonWith 😊 @DarkMina

😃 😊 😀 My friend's baby snuck away and came to my library and ran amuck while I was teaching. I don't know how he opened the heavy door! But my third graders were pleased to have an interruption and he was really cute. 😁 😊 😄
🦀 🙁 ☹️ getting near the end and everyone needs mom all of a sudden 👎 😠 😡

MoonWitch94 Thanks for playing 🍂📖✨ 2y
36 likes1 comment
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mandarchy
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I have been passively seeking this book for so long that I actually bought the Kindle edition. I never... almost never pay for books. But it keeps getting referred to in so much of what I read. So finally started this last night.

DivineDiana This was referred to me by my Sister years ago, and I would like to read at some point. Looking forward to what you think! 2y
mandarchy @DivineDiana I'm only two chapters in and it's fascinating. The brain is remarkably misunderstood. 2y
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Magpiegem
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Starting my push towards finishing #booked2021 in earnest with this one by Dr Oliver Sacks, who I would say, along with the patients he talks about, is the main character. I think this year it is so important to remember that mental health doctors are key workers too.

Cinfhen This book is meant to be brilliant ❣️❣️❣️ 2y
Cinfhen Also lovely view!! Do you live by a beach??? 2y
Magpiegem @Cinfhen yes I live in Brighton on the south coast of England. The weather has just turned wild and wintery. I had a very windy walk along the beach yesterday and stopped for a hot apple to warm up 😊 2y
Cinfhen I‘m SO JEALOUS you get to look at the sea everyday - #LifeGoals 2y
15 likes4 comments
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yoavshai
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#BookCoverChallenge
Day 74.
Here I will note 365 books (or as many as I will have before I get tired) that have shaped my taste in literature. No explanations, no reviews. Just the cover of the book.
I do not challenge anyone. You are all welcome to take part.

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Mandigolightly
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Panpan

I didn‘t like this as much as I thought I would. A large part of that is likely due to the book‘s age. Much of the language and perspectives are extremely outdated 2/5 ⭐️
Book #57 of 2020

Prairiegirl_reading Thanks for the review, helps me get that one of my tbr! 4y
JessNevertheless Great perspective! I hated this book and never could articulate why but the outdated-ness was certainly a part of it 4y
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Kayla8
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Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Fascinating neurological case studies!
Would recommend to anyone with a medical background/interest in medicine, especially those particularly intrigued by neurology.
👩🏻‍⚕️🩺🧠

Full GoodReads Review Below ⬇️
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3151619964

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Kayla8
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Sitting out on my deck in the morning with a cup of coffee, a good book, and the sunrise - my favorite way to start the day.

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erzascarletbookgasm
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I‘ve not read it but I have wondered what a #strangetitle this is, when I first came across the book. Later I found out it‘s a collection of case studies relating to various neurological disorders by neurologist Dr Oliver Sacks.

#BiblioMaynia

ju.ca.no I also have this on my wishlist, mainly due to the strange title😅 but it does also sound interesting 😊 4y
emilyhaldi I found this book fascinating!! Oliver Sacks is brilliant ✨ 4y
Balibee146 Read it many years ago... This edition too... Fascinating 4y
OriginalCyn620 Very interesting title! 4y
umbrellagirl Love the Magritte-esque cover! 4y
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Joanne1
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The tagged book is my April #doublespin. It‘s interesting but quite clinical so I‘m breaking it up with my very funny #triplespin April book. The cat on the front cover is how I feel after a day home schooling my two children!

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jenniferw88
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Mehso-so

3 1/2 🌟

I was sad reading the mentions of Parkinson's Disease because my Granddad died from it, and Paul Sinha (off #TheChase) is now suffering from it.

The last chapter really annoyed me though - again, due to #TheChase - it's called 'The Autist Artist'. Cindy, who am I thinking of lol?!

#booked2020 #hatorheadcoveringonthecover @Cinfhen @4thhouseontheleft @BarbaraTheBibliophage

BarbaraTheBibliophage Perfect pick! 4y
Cinfhen I know EXACTLY who you‘re thinking of ☺️❤️ 4y
jenniferw88 Third virtual book for #MarchUnshelfing @Clwojick 4y
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jenniferw88
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This would have been similar to Captain America's experience if he was real.

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lou-p-lou
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Pickpick

Fascinating insight into the pathologies associated with neurological diseases.

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Blackink_WhitePaper
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You have to begin to lose your memory, if only in bits and pieces, to realise that memory is what makes our lives. Life without memory is no life at all... our memory is our coherence, our reason, our feeling, even our action. Without it, we are nothing...(I can only wait for the final amnesia, the one that can erase an entire life, as it did my mother‘s...)
Luis Bunuel #weekendreading #holiday #favoritelines

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Lizstarks
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Pickpick

This Oliver Sacks guy is a genius.

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jenniferw88
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#booked2020 @Cinfhen @BarbaraTheBibliophage @4thhouseontheleft

This is the first of 2 posts about books I'm thinking of using for the prompts. 3 #liveandlearn might change (it's already changed once!) I probably have books for prompts 5, 6, 7, 12 & 13 but going to go by my mood to fill these.

Just found prompt 8 - Not My Father's Son - Alan Cumming!

alisiakae Great selections! I will probably read at least 5 books for the #liveandlearn prompt! 😂 4y
BarbaraTheBibliophage I‘m so anxious to start planning—fun to see your starting picks! 😘 4y
Cinfhen Ohhhh!!! If I didn‘t already own 4 books that work for #2 I‘d use your pick 🎩clever choice!!! 4y
70 likes3 comments
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Jari-chan
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Mehso-so

Some cases Sacks tells us about were indeed interesting to read. I was surprised about what can happen out therr in the big world.

But as for me most parts of it were mostly irrelevant. A lot can change in 35 years time. For professionals and relatives/friends it is an important and sure as well helpful book.

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Jari-chan
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Mysterio being #mysterious 😱

#Fallisbooked

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Rissa1
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Mehso-so

Some of this stories were very interesting, some not so much, all were incredibly dated. Overall it was an ok read.

Picture of random price list found in the book.

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Rissa1
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My plans for this gloomy day. #rainydaysareforreading

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gradcat
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#LilithJuly

(Day 9 - #TheHat)

*I thought this one would be too obvious; nevertheless, I love this cover...very amusing.

Cinfhen I‘ve seen so much praise for this book 💜 5y
Leftcoastzen It‘s a great book ! Sacks makes psychological topics very readable. 5y
Susannah That cover is perfect. 5y
See All 9 Comments
KarenUK Love that cover 😍 5y
LiterRohde Wow. I was not expecting that to be nonfiction. 🤯 5y
JamieArc I‘m a sucker for Magritte references 😁 5y
gradcat @Cinfhen I agree with @Leftcoastzen ... it is a great book—as are others he wrote—he is sorely missed! 5y
gradcat @Susannah @KarenUK @JamieArc I wish I owned the edition with the Magritte reference on the cover. I own the book, only not with that cover—I agree, this cover is excellent! 5y
gradcat @LiterRohde I know, right? But how about this title (tagged), and it is fiction. I love them both! 5y
75 likes1 stack add9 comments
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Kalalalatja
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I haven‘t read this, but it has been on my tbr for ages!

#TheHat #LillithJuly

Cinfhen @sisilia raved about this one 💘💘💘💘💘 5y
KarenUK On mine for ages too....🤦‍♀️ 5y
sisilia I love Oliver Sacks 💖 @Cinfhen I haven‘t read this one but loved his memoir 5y
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kspenmoll Definitely read it! 5y
ju.ca.no Oh it‘s on mine as well😂 5y
Moray_Reads Mine too 🙄 5y
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Caffeinated_Reader
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#70 of my year. I‘m waiting for my Shadow & Bones trilogy to come in the mail tomorrow so decided to pick up this short book. Definitely looking forward to collecting more of his books🤓🥰

Caffeinated_Reader 4/5 ⭐️Crazy! It‘s amazing to read about all the excitement surrounding rare diagnosis from the 70s and 80s. It was mostly surprising the ages in which a lot of the disorders were onset. Very scary disorders. 5y
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hefau
Mehso-so

I‘ve wanted to read this book for a while, but I was a bit underwhelmed. The stories of patients are fascinating. It seems that Sacks did care about uncovering the mechanisms of the brain; however, he‘s hopelessly full of himself. He goes on philosophical rants for pages and pages. I‘m interested in the patients and their afflictions, not how well-read or clever Sacks thinks he is.

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hefau
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I got my newest book haul today!

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speljamr
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Pickpick

I loved this volume of clinical stories and continue to find myself fascinated by the brain. Most of the chapters are well written prose and within reach of the non-technical reader. There were a couple though, maybe originally written for a different audience, that were a little tougher to get through.

#neurology

SoManyBooksNotEnoughTime i read this year's ago as a Psych major, great collection! 5y
rwmg Have you read his memoirs? Such an interesting life. 5y
speljamr @rwmg Not yet. I have a bunch of his books on my to read pile. I've read Hallucinations. 5y
rwmg I've got A Leg To Stand On on my virtual TBR shelf 5y
Abby2 I read everything of his. Fascinating. 5y
124 likes7 stack adds5 comments
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speljamr
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Late night dinner: Sriracha chicken with purple rice and green beans.

(Yes, I know, this rice again. I love this stuff.)

#BookAndDinner

AndreaLove Yummy!! 5y
Cathythoughts I think I would love that rice too 👍🏻 5y
Velvetfur Purple rice?! I must find some! Looks fab, all of it👍 5y
See All 6 Comments
LibrarianJen Yum! Also, that book title 💖💖💖 5y
khusyaia Purple rice ? Im asian and i never heard about it. Lol 5y
speljamr @khusyaia It also goes by the name black rice and forbidden rice. I believe it is Korean? 5y
128 likes2 stack adds6 comments
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speljamr
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We continue with our Wednesday night dinner and a book. This week we have grilled chicken strips, parmesan garlic angel hair pasta, peas, and a Rosé hard cider. All with some background music from Tears Run Rings.

#BookNDinner

rwmg Love Oliver Sacks 5y
ElizaMarie So ??? I‘m curious about this... do you just have dinner and read every Wednesday? I like this! 5y
speljamr @ElizaMarie I'm a divorced single dad, and Wednesday night is one of my kid free nights. There hasn't been much to do lately, so I've just turned it into self care time with food and reading. 5y
See All 8 Comments
Shemac77 Angry Orchard and Sacks!! 5y
Reviewsbylola I used to read with meals all the time as a kid. I may have to implement that with my own kids. 5y
ElizaMarie Well I‘m all about self care! Enjoy your dinner! 5y
Honeybeebooks Love this book. It was a gift from our son. It may seem an odd choice but he got it right. 5y
hollylynnbee I had to read this for school and fell in love with it. 5y
140 likes2 stack adds8 comments
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ShannonColleen
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Excited for a new book and a warm bath 😍

Crazeedi Great book 5y
ShannonColleen @Crazeedi it has been in my TBR pile for a while now! So excited to finally dive into it! 5y
55 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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jenniferw88
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Not all of these are #sillytitle(s), but they are pretty funny! #SisforSeptember @CaliforniaCay

IamIamIam I really enjoyed this, but it's not light reading by any means! I also have Awakenings to get to but too much neuroscience is hard on the layman!!! 🤣❤👌 6y
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Regi_C
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Mehso-so

Note how it says "...and Other Clinical Tales" there in the title. This book definitely is technical, and it can easily go over your head if you don't have a base understanding of neuroscience. It's great if you feel like you want to challenge your understanding, but I don't recommend it as a light read.

#nonfiction #sciencewriting

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Oblomov26
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Pickpick

Well it is called a classic for a reason. The takeaway for me is that all we are exists in the grey matter between the ears, damage it and we can change or go away entirely. Damage which means a man can not recognise faces or even common items, which impacts memory so badly that thirty years of memory are lost, which means you can no longer recognise the concept of left, or providing ecstatic visions associated with mystics. Brilliant and profound

Vexingcircumstance At the same time, though, the brain can do amazing things. People sometimes heal completely from horrific looking brain injuries. Then there are disorders, like the one my daughter has, where babies are born missing parts of their brain & they are still able to learn to do the things usually controlled by the parts they are missing because new neural pathways form. Our brains are complex & it‘s not as simple as remove a part & we are no more. 6y
Oblomov26 @Vexingcircumstance no arguments on this- our brains have an amazing ability to recreate what is lost. But it is our brain, that amazing grey matter which recognises the damage and creates an alternative way to achieve a solution given the tools available. It is still resources available. This is where we are amazing; we can reroute the structure to create a solution. When Sacks was writing this we were only realising this malleability. 6y
Bronte_Chintz I loved this book! So through provoking! 6y
69 likes3 stack adds3 comments
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ephemeralwaltz
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These are a couple of #borrowedbooks I have at the moment. I keep a strict log of which books I've lent and which books I've borrowed aaaaand since I trust my friends and they trust me, everything works out. ☺️

#MarchInBooks

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Gezemice
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Panpan

I am so angry right now. I can‘t take another word of this self-righteous, ignorant, judgmental narrative masquerading as compassion. I am close to the end but I can‘t bear to finish. I just want to fling my phone (I was taking the audiobook route) to the wall and scream, NO! NO! NO!!! These are people, not freaks, idiots, morons, retards!!!
This book is dated to the point of blood boiling. I can‘t recommend it to a 21st century reader.

ReadingVampire Uh oh.... I bought this on audio.... 6y
ReadingVampire Uh oh, I'm also going into psychology... Is he bashing people with mental conditions? 😡 6y
Gezemice @Puredragonstar Well, you could say he is the product of his time. And the beginning is rather interesting. There are many interesting stories. But for me it got all obliterated when I got to Part 4 and literally every sentence had multiple terms that are now derogatory. The narrator was very good, that made it worse. It made me physically ill. I literally was seething with anger. You might not get that reaction. 6y
Gezemice @Puredragonstar You could also just skip that section and then it is relatively good. But for me his way of looking at his patients in part 4 was inexcusable and put the rest of the book in that light, also. 6y
IllyallI I'm having trouble understanding the problem, is it just that he is using outdated medical terms that were the norm for his age or is he evidently being uncompassionate to his patients? 6y
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IamIamIam
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Mehso-so

Sacks does an excellent job of turning case notes into compelling narratives but this remains a very clinical book. It's important to remember that the first copyright is 1970, especially when you get into the chapter on "retardates" and the foremost authority who worked at the Institute of Defectology ?. I skimmed that chapter at best. You'll need a basic knowledge of psychology and some neuroscience for a clear understanding of many stories.

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taning
Pickpick

The brain is very interesting

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emilyhaldi
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heyitsMacall The brain is so crazy! I️ love this 6y
73 likes5 stack adds1 comment
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bookworm.krizia
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bookworm.krizia
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Mehso-so

As a therapist who studied and works with some of the people described in this book, all I can say is that I can relate. The stories were fascinating and sad at the same time. However, I really took a long time finishing the book. I feel like I was back in college reading journals. The book just couldn't hold my attention for long.

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arlenefinnigan
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Cinfhen Really want to read Oliver Sacks since @emilyhaldi posted about one of his books...which I‘m blanking on the title.... 6y
emilyhaldi I have a few Oliver Sacks books and have yet to read them! (Aside from Gratitude). I need to read your tagged book stat! @Cinfhen I think the book you‘re referring to is 6y
Cinfhen I think it might be the book written by his partner I was thinking of @emilyhaldi (edited) 6y
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Listener15
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Pickpick

A solid book but, for me, not overly fantastic. There were parts that were amazing but mostly just good. It really shines when he is writing about specific cases. It feels a little dated in parts and could use some defining of the medical terms for “idiot” and the such. The narrator, Johnathan Davis, did a wonderful job and reminded me at times of Scott Brick. Overall, decent book and worth picking up in a sale or at your library.

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