Reviews - The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: And Other Clinical Tales

562 reviews for:

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

"It was perhaps fortunate that I chanced to see Rebecca in her so-different modes -- so damaged and incorrigible in the one, so full of promise and potential in the other -- and that she was on of the first patients I saw in our clinic. For what I saw in her, what she showed me, I now saw in all."

For me, this passage from the book sums up Sacks' approach to his patients. There are certainly a dizzying number of ways that a person could be ill with a neurological disorder, but Oliver Sacks always sees them and treats them as complex individuals, rather than list of symptoms. Inspiring.

athenaq's review against another edition

4.0

Brilliant and scary. Absolutely loved the references to classical literature. Great writing style, easy to read yet scientifically well explained.

myway_17's review against another edition

4.0

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

comptron's review against another edition

4.0

Fascinating vignettes of humans encountered by Dr. Sacks, humans with curious issues affecting their brains - not merely subjects of Dr. Sacks's analysis, but agents of creativity and beauty. I'm not the right candidate to understand much of the medical insight that Dr. Sacks might be sharing, but there are plenty of non-medical insights on offer here. The book is beautiful.

mysbace's review against another edition

5.0

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

sonia_panico's review against another edition

3.5

challenging reflective medium-paced

tonyreadsbooks's review against another edition

5.0

Profoundly fascinating and endlessly entertaining. I came in expecting a collection of lighthearted but intriguing psychological case studies. The title of the book seems set an almost humorous tone. However, this book is just as much about philosophy than it is about psychology/neurology. Sacks uses a few technical terms here and there as well as some references to literature (he seems to be fond of Borges’ “Funes the Memorious”, which I am also very fond of) which I understand can make the book difficult to read for some. Even so, beneath every sentence is a deep well of knowledge and fruit for thought. This book has shown that art, science, and philosophy can all be combined masterfully provide hours of pondering every time that it is read. Even though the terms used might be dated (there are words used that are considered offensive today however they were the appropriate medical terms in the time of writing), it is still a very “modern” book with issues and ideas still worth tackling and discussing today. I greatly enjoyed reading this book. 5/5.