The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (Picador)

"It is guaranteed that the reader will be utterly blown away with this extraordinary collection of medical insights into the symptoms that can occur when there are brain malfunctions with their consequenct bizarre changes in mental perceptions.This essentially is a collection of case histories that are quite out of the scope of the average persons understanding. Oliver Sacks' accessible style of writing gives us glimpses into the 'unreal' lives of patients who have to negotiate their everyday lives lacking some essential and basic abilities to relate to the world in a 'normal' way either in the business of memory, sensory perception or mobility.Each case reads like a whacky novel and leaves the reader with a feeling of walking on thin ice because the very foundations upon which we as 'normal'human beings base our lives come into question too.Not to be missed! "
~ Written on 2009-12-02

"Very, very interesting and thought provoking. An insight into how complex a machine the brain is and how it can go wrong in the strangest of ways but in the process sometimes partially compensate with the most amazing displays of "computing power". Not for everyone and not sure it deserves the raving press reviews."
~ Written on 2009-11-10

"Sensitive, witty and honest, a delight to read whether you are interested in neurology or not. Brilliant."
~ Written on 2009-10-12

"This is a book that everybody should read to get a better idea of mental problems that can happen to all of us, but may seem scarey to outsiders when you don't understand. There is some medical jargon, but most of the content is very easy to understand and I do like Dr. Sack's very loving caring take on his patients."
~ Written on 2009-09-06

"The one star does not refer to the text, which I have only partially read. The one star is for the retarded publishers at Picador.

When publishing a work of any genre, there are universal guidelines that publishers and editors MUST follow. These give the reading public a sense of cohesion and makes them able to pick-up and read any text by any publisher. If all publishers had vastly different systems of layout, style and protocol, then reading would become increasingly difficult and tiresome. Point in contention, titles.

On the upper portion of a page there are one of four basic options:
i) author's name (not recommended),
ii) book title (also, not recommended),
iii) chapter (recommended),
iv) sub-group, such as single story title in a collection of short stories (necessary).

Whichever of these you pick, the left and right pages need to contain DIFFERENT information so that the reader can find, re-find or locate their place in the book - the last page they were reading if they put the text down. So, that established, the upper titles act as form of navigation for the reader, a universally adhered to rule (unless you are David Carson et al.). So then, editors at Picador, why did you in your ultimate wisdom (can you sense my sarcasm there) decide to put the SAME chapter title on BOTH the left AND the right page? Pray tell, what inspired such divergence from the established protocol? Especially when all it serves to do is disorientate the reader and render navigation redundant. E.g., I am reading the first story and the title piece to the book, and I look up to see the information on the upper page, and what does it say? NOTHING! It simply tells me TWICE, the title of this chapter! not the title of the story I am reading!

When I noticed this I was quite taken aback at the utter stupidity of the publishers in allowing this decision to pass numerous committee stages, and for what ultimate purpose was it agreed? Does in add to my reading experience? No! Does it give me extra information? No! Does it aid me in any way, shape or form? NO! Does it annoy me? Yes! Does it detract from the enjoyment of reading? Yes! Does it make navigation difficult? YES!

My advice to any potential reader is to buy another imprint, there are lots out there. Choose one my a publishing house that follows publishing protocol and etiquette, and not one that wants to re-write the rules because they appear to have nothing better to do with their time."
~ Written on 2009-05-26