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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
medium-paced
A medical mystery that kept me listening! Pros: learning more about the brain; insights into a rare disorder. Cons: I had hoped that the author would explore how her privilege (white, young, wealthy, support system, etc.) affected her experience with the healthcare system more and sooner; unaddressed fatphobia.
Not me having almost all of her first symptoms lol. Not as intense as hers thank god. Maybe not the best book to listen to as a hypochondriac. Very interesting read but very anxiety inducing. Couldn’t help but think about how different this would have been if it happened now. Her million dollar treatment in 2009 feels like it be closer to 10 million now.
The medical jargon and scientific terms were a little confusing and hard to follow at times.
The medical jargon and scientific terms were a little confusing and hard to follow at times.
emotional
informative
medium-paced
I’m a fan of Oliver Sacks after reading his legendary The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales, where he describes strange and interesting neurologically based cases. I also love learning about scientific and medical oddities. This book was right up my alley, and though I vaguely knew some details about Susannah’s case, it was interesting to read this memoir and see ‘her’ perspective on it. A lot of this book is actually retold through the eyes of people other than Susannah, secondhand or through hospital videos, etc. Nonetheless, it is fascinating to go through the journey of recollection with her. She is also only 24 in this book, so it felt strangely relatable in that sense, since she’s still quite young (yet accomplished even at that age—being a full time journalist and all). I appreciate that this book has shed light on a rare condition, and that its publication has had a tangible impact on at least a few, maybe hundreds, of people getting their proper diagnosis.
The book does suffer from some weird and clunky writing at times, but it is a chaotic book to begin with. Some of the parts seemed irrelevant or random attempts to explain the underlying medicine/anatomy, but this may not necessarily be what is motivating the reader. There is also a strange narrative gap between parts two and three, and I understand that Susannah’s own experiences from this time in her life were hazy, but it still came off as a very abrupt transition in the writing. This was an interesting collection of memories, experiences, and evidence of a rare condition that took over the author’s life for mainly a month, but even beyond that—for the rest of her life, arguably. Yet for all of that, this book has had a tremendously positive impact on the world, simply by Susannah sharing her story. I am glad I got the chance to read it and witness this terrifying process with her.
The book does suffer from some weird and clunky writing at times, but it is a chaotic book to begin with. Some of the parts seemed irrelevant or random attempts to explain the underlying medicine/anatomy, but this may not necessarily be what is motivating the reader. There is also a strange narrative gap between parts two and three, and I understand that Susannah’s own experiences from this time in her life were hazy, but it still came off as a very abrupt transition in the writing. This was an interesting collection of memories, experiences, and evidence of a rare condition that took over the author’s life for mainly a month, but even beyond that—for the rest of her life, arguably. Yet for all of that, this book has had a tremendously positive impact on the world, simply by Susannah sharing her story. I am glad I got the chance to read it and witness this terrifying process with her.
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
dark
emotional
informative
sad
fast-paced
Looking for a true horror story to keep you up nights? There are no supernatural elements that can match the terror of having your own brain and body turn on you.
I read this one cover-to-cover in one night. The writing is unsurprisingly good (coming from an award-winning journalist, after all), and flows seamlessly between personal recollections, stories gleaned from interviews, and medical research surrounding a fascinating and poorly-understood illness.
I read this one cover-to-cover in one night. The writing is unsurprisingly good (coming from an award-winning journalist, after all), and flows seamlessly between personal recollections, stories gleaned from interviews, and medical research surrounding a fascinating and poorly-understood illness.
