The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (Picador)

Consisting mainly of short stories relating patient 'oddities' that the author has treated in his long career as a neurologist it manages to come across as anything but a list of dry case histories. The inclusion of the emotions of the patient as they deal with their difficulties and the reactions of the author keep this book human rather than academic.

Although this is a recommended book for undergraduate students of various disciplines, it should not be discounted as a mere informative reader because of that. Anyone interested in stories of the human condition or those with a fascination/awe of the human brain will find this intriguing, engaging and interesting.


A fantastic must read for anyone with interest in the brain.   June 15, 2000
sharonreith@yahoo.com (Leicester, England)
14 out of 14 found this review helpful

This book was fantastic, having read it as a recommended text for my Biology course I found this to be a great read. There was good explanation of the jargon and a real insight into how fragile each persons existence is and how much of our life we take for granted. There is a moving story about a man who thinks he is in 1945 and when he sees himself does not recognise the old man, and another man who is walking at right angles to the world and has no concept of his lack of balance. I truly think this is a great book with the right balance to keep the lay man and a person with some knowledge gripped from one case study to another.


wonderful   October 11, 2000
24 out of 25 found this review helpful

This is a truly brilliant book, and one of the main inspirations which caused me to enter medicine in the first place. I agree with the Welsh reviewer that the amount of technical jargon in the book might frustrate a non-medic, but remember, these are genuine neurological patients being discussed in medical terms that would be of interest to both the specialist and general reader - the reason that the book is so universally readable is because of Sacks' wonderful empathy and determination (partly inherited from the great Russian neuroscientist Alexander Luria) that patients should be managed and documented as people first and cases second - a view which is sadly far from universal among neurologists. For those interested by this book, the work of V.S. Ramachandran addresses many similar issues (including bizarre stories to tell your mates in the pub!)


A brilliant introduction to the brain   September 15, 2005
18 out of 20 found this review helpful

I am an A level student who wants to study neuroscience at university. I read this book last year and found it to be an excellent introduction to the brain and what happens when it 'goes wrong'. Oliver Sacks has a way of making each case study a human story rather than an analysis of his patients. His science is accessible and I would recommend anyone to read this book whether studying the brain or not.


Interesting way to learn about a complex subject   March 17, 2004
Christian McCallister (The waters of the Great Lakes)
31 out of 36 found this review helpful

If you ever wanted to learn more about unusual neurological disorders, but were afraid to be buried in dry research papers and journals, here is a book for you. From a distance, this is just a collection of detailed case histories about different neurological disorders. Up close, it is high-quality biographical prose that gives the reader a real feel for what it might be like to have each of the disorders. We're not talking about symptom lists and treatment regimens, but everyday life for a person with autism (or one of the other disorders covered). Overall, this book is a work of art. Almost as good, albeit slightly dry in places, is "An Anthropologist on Mars" by Sacks.

I am a practicing clinical psychologist and, when I begin working with a client newly diagnosed with a disorder covered in one Sacks's books, I usually ask them to read the relevant chapters. They almost always come back to me and say, "Yeah, that's it exactly!" What better praise is there? -- Chris McCallister, Ph.D., L.P.