The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat: And Other Clinical Tales

Oliver Sacks

Simon and Schuster, 1998 - Literary Criticism - 243 pages

In his most extraordinary book, "one of the great clinical writers of the 20th century" (The New York Times) recounts the case histories of patients lost in the bizarre, apparently inescapable world of neurological disorders. Oliver Sacks's 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. Sacks's 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 medicine's ultimate responsibility: "the suffering, afflicted, fighting human subject."

What people are saying

Review: The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales

User Review  - Maurinejt - Goodreads

This book has been on my "to read" list ever since I heard Dr. Sacks speak, years ago. (He is just as charming and enthralling to listen to as you might imagine.) While perusing his backlist after the ...

Review: The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales

User Review  - Savannah S - Goodreads

This book was really interesting. I really liked the way that Dr. Sacks narrated all of the stories. The way his writing seemed somewhat impartial, yet also very emotional was really interesting and ...

Contents

• Introduction page: 3
• The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat page: 8
• The Lost Mariner page: 23
• The Disembodied Lady page: 43
• The Man Who Fell out of Bed page: 55
• Hands page: 59
• Phantoms page: 66
• On the Level page: 71
• Eyes Right page: 77
• The Presidents Speech page: 80
• Introduction page: 87
• Witty Ticcy Ray page: 92
• Cupids Disease page: 102
• A Matter of Identity page: 108
• Yes FatherSister page: 116
• The Possessed page: 120
• Part Three o TRANSPORTS: 127
• Introduction page: 129
• Reminiscence page 112: 153
• The Dog Beneath the Skin page: 156
• Murder page: 161
• The Visions of Hildegard page: 166
• Introduction page: 173
• Rebecca page: 178
• A Walking Grove page: 187
• The Twins page: 195
• The Autist Artist page: 214
• Bibliography page: 234

About the author

Oliver Sacks was born in London and educated in London, Oxford, California, and New York. He is professor of clinical neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He is the author of many books, including Awakenings and A Leg to Stand On.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat: And Other Clinical Tales
• Author: Oliver Sacks
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Simon and Schuster, 1998
• ISBN: 0684853949, 9780684853949
• Length: 243 pages
• Subjects: Literary Criticism / General; Medical / Neurology; Psychology / Clinical Psychology; Psychology / Mental Illness; Psychology / Neuropsychology; Psychology / Physiological Psychology