Oliver Sacks

Physician and writer Oliver Sacks recounts his experiences as a young neurologist; his physical passions--weight lifting and swimming; his love affairs, both romantic and intellectual; his guilt over leaving his family to come to America; his bond with his schizophrenic brother; and the writers and scientists--Thom Gunn, A. R. Luria, W. H. Auden, Gerald M. Edelman, Francis Crick--who influenced him.

A Life

On the Move

Gavin

Rushed, unworthy: just a string of events and bad prose extracts lifted straight out of his adolescence. 

Also two long chapters exaggerating the achievements of two scientific titans vs consciousness studies (Crick and Edelman). 

Hadn't known his love life was so fraught - he looks like such a bull (and indeed Bennett remembers Sacks at Oxford as a brash alpha). Weightlifting chat is endearing in an intellectual. Read his real books, Uncle Tungsten for autobiography.


[Values #3, Theory #1]

Maddie

What an interesting life this man had! The book covers over 50 years of Dr. Sacks' life, including many encounters with patients, scientists and other doctors. Really enjoyed reading this book, as his ease with language and storytelling is apparent throughout.

Nadine 

It's become a bit of a ritual with me to tackle long Oliver Sacks books over the summer in audio-book form to accompany myself on long walks through the Swiss mountains and along the lakes. Sacks never disappoints and it's dreadful to think that he will no longer be combining his wit, erudite ideas and renaissance approach to medicine in these accessible tomes any more. 
This book touches on many familiar themes, and is loosely chronological. It also puts perspective on the role his family played in his life and career, his sexuality and his non-conformity as a doctor, neurologist and author. 

One has to wonder how much a role his 35 years of celibacy and lack of domestic life played in his success and I would love to find a female equivalent in terms of thought leadership. Or are most of them mired in homemaking and children upbringing?

Gustavo Saiani

Not his finest book technically, but deserving of the highest praise for his candor and above all for the incredibly touching life he led.

Brock

Jeff Roche

robert preswick

Oliver Sacks war der berühmteste Neurologe der Welt. Mit seinen Fallgeschichten hat er uns einen neuen Blick auf Krankheiten und Abweichungen gelehrt: Was bei einem Patienten auf den ersten Blick als Störung erscheint, ermöglicht oft besondere Fähigkeiten der Wahrnehmung. Mit diesem Buch hat Sacks eine von fesselnder Energie getriebene Autobiographie vorgelegt. Ehrlich und anrührend beschreibt er die wichtigsten Stationen seines Lebens – das enge Großbritannien der Nachkriegszeit, das anarchische Kalifornien der frühen Sechziger, schließlich das ewig pulsierende New York. Ob er in der Forschung tätig ist oder in der klinischen Praxis, konstant bleiben die Begeisterung für die Arbeit mit den Patienten und das Schreiben darüber. Gerühmt für seine feinsinnigen Fallgeschichten, analysiert Sacks hier seinen eigenen Fall: Er erzählt von erfüllter und unerfüllter Liebe, der Beziehung zu seiner jüdischen Medizinerfamilie, zeitweiliger Drogensucht und exzessivem Bodybuilding und von unbändigen Glücksgefühlen auf den Road Trips durch die Weiten Nordamerikas. Die Lebensbilanz eines außergewöhnlichen Mediziners – und das Meisterwerk eines großartigen Erzählers.

On the Move A Life

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