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

Description

Across twenty-four clinical essays, neurologist Oliver Sacks encounters people whose altered brains have transformed the ordinary acts of recognizing, remembering, moving, and perceiving. One patient cannot identify familiar faces or objects; others experience involuntary movements, regard a limb as alien, or display extraordinary artistic and mathematical abilities alongside profound limitations. Organized into four sections addressing different aspects of brain function, the book combines narrative case histories with accessible accounts of physiology, neurological consequences, and psychological adaptation. Sacks remains attentive not only to what each condition removes but also to the strategies and identities patients develop around it. The collection uses unusual disorders to examine the relationship between brain and self, portraying neurological impairment as scientifically strange without losing sight of the person living through it.

Themes