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Here’s a list of wonderful books that look at physical and mental health from many different perspectives. By the time we read through the entire list, maybe Congress will have come to their senses.
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Anxiety disorients me from inside. My heart moves so erratically I’m afraid it will give out, my breath so staggered I have to remind myself to take in air.
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Leah Kaminsky’s debut novel, The Waiting Room, depicts one fateful day in the life of an Australian doctor and mother, Dina, living in Haifa, Israel. Dina is trying to maintain normalcy as she goes about her work as a family doctor, cares for her son, and fights to preserve her faltering relationship with her husband, […]
...moreBrian Booker discusses his debut collection Are You Here For What I’m Here For?, giving characters strange and unusual names, and sleeping sickness.
...morePaula Whyman discusses her debut collection You May See a Stranger, discovering truth in fiction, and how memory interferes with good storytelling.
...moreOliver Sacks brought neuroscience closer to popular understanding and in turn, brought people closer to each other. At The Toast, Laura Passin’s thoughtful tribute to Sacks by way of memoir: What he conveys in so many of his great case studies–is not a lurid thrill at the exotic mental experience, but an urgent need to […]
...moreIn Oliver Sacks’s last published essay, he writes about a patient who underwent surgery to take away his seizures caused by Klüver-Bucy syndrome—and left him with an insatiable appetite: for blocks of cheese, playing the piano, and child pornography. Read Suzanne Koven’s interview with Sacks about hallucinations—his book, and the phenomenon—here.
...moreBrain Pickings explores beloved science writer Oliver Sacks’s memoir On the Move: A Life, paying particularly close attention to the growth of his friendship with poet Thom Gunn, a friendship both beautiful and important for Sacks in his development as a writer.
...moreWe just noticed that Andrew Sullivan linked to our interview with Oliver Sacks on his website the Dish. (He also linked to an interview Sacks did with the superb radio show/podcast Radiolab. If you liked our interview, you’ll probably like that one too!) Thanks, Andrew, we love you back!
...moreIn a daily feature about “books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly,” NPR’s Two-Way blog linked to our interview with Oliver Sacks about his latest investigation of extraordinary neurology, Hallucinations. Thanks, NPR! We love you back!
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To celebrate his 80th birthday, The Rumpus sits down with neurologist and writer Oliver Sacks to discuss his latest book, Hallucinations, and the relationship between hallucinatory experiences and the imagination and creativity.
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NPR Books has a fascinating interview with Oliver Sacks on his new book Hallucinations. An excerpt on hallucinations during migraines: …At least on two occasions, I’ve had a smell — in particular a smell of hot buttered toast — with a strong sense that I was about 3 years old, being put in a high […]
...moreSiri Hustvedt’s memoir is a sprawling exploration of memory and the ways trauma manifests in physical illness—less Mary Karr, more Oliver Sacks.
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