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

In the book The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales Oliver Sacks depicts various stories from his time working as a Physician and Neurologist. Unlike most case studies, Sacks presents these patients in a way that makes them seem more than just clinical studies. He shows the humanity beneath the “defects” of these people. This is done in a way that makes this book not only interesting to read and informative, but also thought provoking. He makes his reader reevaluate these patients, seeing past the problems and towards the underlying brilliance of these people.

Oliver Sacks is a Physician, Psychiatrist, Professor of Neurology and Author who has written 12 books. He studied at The Queen’s College in Oxford and the University of California, Los Angeles. He is best known for his books made up of case studies that he has observed over the years including, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, written in 1985. It is his 4^th book and instantly hit the best-sellers list shortly after its publication.

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat is broken up into a short story format with four main sections. These sections organize the stories into stories about lost brain functions, excess brain functioning, hallucinations and mentally disabled patients. Each chapter of the book tells a new story; although every story is distinct, they all have one theme in common: Sacks represents the person in each case as more than just a subject. He tries to show the reader how each patient is special; and despite the issues they may have, they are human. He even writes, “ We paid far too much attention to the defects of our patients…. And far too little to what was intact or preserved” (Pg. 183).

Sacks writes about patients such as a blind woman who cannot feel her hands and a young girl with a brain tumor who has vivid “day dreams” about her home in India. He also writes about people suffering from Aphasia, Tourette Syndrome, Memory loss, “Cupid’s Disease” and much more. All these stories are very interesting. Sacks does a great job of explaining what he observed so the reader gets a clear view of each case and the events that took place while he watched his patients. He also does a fantastic job of breaking down what is going on into plain language, often avoiding words used mainly in neuroscience and psychology. However, occasionally I found he would discuss things that I was not familiar with, so then I would Google it. He did this most often in the postscript sections at the end of almost every story. Also in the postscript sections, Sacks tries to wrap up the stories of each case. But, that is hard to do often because Sacks sees these patients once or twice and then never again, or the story ends abruptly and tragically. 

This particular book is “written in a lighter, more informal style” (Oliver Sacks, oliversacks.com) which makes the book mostly a light, informative read. I also found that because of his writing style each case was easier to understand. His style also made the book feel less like you were reading a series of case studies and more like you were reading short stories.

I highly recommend this book, especially if you have any interest in psychology or neuroscience. Though, even if you don’t, I still recommend it. I think it gives you a great insight into the lives of those with neurological disorders. It also makes you think about the brain and how complex it is and how we know so little about it. Finally, it reminds you of how lucky you are to have a healthy, normal, functioning brain. No only that, but this book is also intriguing and paints people you normally dismiss as “sick”, “retarded” or “gone” in a new light.

Blink Book Review

Jon Young

Blink Review

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, by Malcolm Gladwell, is an informational and educational look at our hidden inherent ability to make snap decision with very little information in the blink of an eye without truly knowing we have.

Gladwell's style of writing helped the way I read and understood the facts and experiments he brought to light. He writes smoothly, as if telling a story. It's more conversational than a straight reiteration of facts and studies. The majority of the book is made up of descriptions of many different studies and experiences of different people and scientists in regard to our instant thought processes.

He demonstrates our ability to "thin slice" a problem and take only the necessary information required to make a decision based on our first impression. He talks about a study in which looking at a clip of only three minutes of a couple talking you can know with fairly accurate certainty whether or not they will still be together several years in the future. This study by Gottman was possible because of our ability to thin slice. He found that the presence of contempt was the only truly viable piece of information required to accurately judge a couple. Another demonstration of first impression decisions is when Gladwell tells the story of a famous orchestra that decided to begin having their auditions for new musicians be held behind a curtain. In this way they were judging the possible addition to their symphony based on skill alone and not what they looked like, how they acted, etc.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a great read, but also had a large amount of information on the subject. I recommend it highly as an informational text on our split second decisions that we do not know we make. I recommend it for those of you who have those inklings, those feelings about something you have no idea where they come from and aren't sure you should trust. This book will explain to you where they come from and help you to make an informed decision whether to trust them or not.

An Immaculate review of "An Open Heart"

     The book "An Open Heart, Practicing Compassion in Everyday Life" by the Dalai Lama and edited by Nicholas Vreeland has a special ability that few books possess. The power to change your life.
      What makes this such a moving read is not only the well thought out content displayed by the Dalai Lama, but how the book is put together. This book is essentially a guide,  creating a starting spot for those uneducated in the Buddhist religion and the art of meditation. We begin with learning how Buddhists see life through their eyes, eternal suffering; and the goal of this religion being to escape this suffering by clearing the conscious.
      Once comfortable with the basic premise of the religion, and lifestyle the pole of Buddhist belief follow we begin to be led down a path on how to end our own suffering. But to create this understanding we must first acknowledge that we are in fact suffering. To build this case The Dalai Lama carefully chose explicit examples to display our non-virtuous emotions and habits to ourselves: selfishness, hate, desire, and lack of compassion. By proving to his readers that we do in fact hold many non-virtuous characteristics in our personalities he is able to make us believe that we need to change something. This is how he is able to change us through a 190 page book.
     Now that we have come to the understanding that we do have flaws, which consequently lead to emotions and habits such as anger, insecurity, and over-attachment we all want to find out how to move past this. He answers this with a simple solution: meditation. To many readers, especially in the United States where Buddhism holds the faith of under two percent, it is only logical to start off with the most basic forms of meditation as a way to ease the reader into it. The Dalai Lam does just that and makes sure to thoroughly explain the technique, importance, and usefulness of this practice through examples that tie into our lives, making it very easy for the reader to begin their practice with faith that it is worth it.
     With the reader now putting faith in his hands, the Dali Lama takes his time to slowly integrate new and more complicated forms of meditation, all the while explaining the importance, holding the readers hand through this new experience and making sure that we stay faithful to the idea.
     Once we have progressed through these multiple steps the Dalai Lama leaves us with some words of wisdom that only make sense once you have read through the whole book.
     If one is truly invested in beginning a change in their life, this is a great place to start. There are plenty of books that go into more depth in the practices of Buddhism than this, but none will be as patient with the reader throughout this new journey as this one by "His Holiness" himself.


Tristan Purdy

The Hot Zone

The Hot Zone by Richard Preston is a thrilling book about various strains of a level four virus that could kill off the human population in just weeks if it were to break out. Richardson became inspired by his first hand account of the virus when he paid a visit to Africa and saw the impact of epidemics. When he read an article was published in the New York Times called “Crisis in the Hot Zone,” Preston became inspired to write this true story. After extensive research on the virus and the story, the book began to fall into place. He educated himself by doing comprehensive interviews with the books contacts, Dr. C.J. Peters and Nancy Jaax.

            Interestingly enough, the book starts with Preston’s attempt to “see through people’s faces into their minds and listen through their words into their lives.” He includes a few pages that captivate the human urge to understand things that they can’t. His illustration of an ID card which is required for authorized entry into an infectious area, suit AA-5, a biosafety level four zone that consists of an air-lock door and a decon shower, grabs the readers attention without any words. The desire to find out what is behind those doors makes it tough to not read on. He then opens the book with character Charles Monet (who’s name was changed), a plantation worker along the Nzoia River in Africa. He tells the story of Monet’s New years spent by Mount Elgon and his detailed descriptions of nature’s effect on Kitum Cave. Kitum cave quickly becomes a location of interest for Part One of the book. This trip into Kitum Cave held the life of Charles Monet in its hands. Preston takes us through the grueling attack an unknown virus would have on this innocent mans life.  Then, Preston dives into the vivid details and effects of this unknown virus as

“The bag swells up. Perhaps he glances around, and then you see that his lips are smeared with something slippery and red, mixed with black specks, as if he has been eating coffee grounds. His eyes are the color of rubies, and his face is an expressionless mass of bruises.”

He introduces us to black vomit, blood clotting, depersonalization and the utter liquefaction of all internal function that this brutal virus causes inside of humans. Charles Monet dies, bleeding out on the floor of the hospital in Africa. He made an preferable host for this virus, but as readers we quickly learn that we all would be the perfect hosts for this ruthless killer.

            After Preston “hosts” a trip through many cases in Africa, he makes this virus more real to the typical American readers, by flying the them to a location right outside of our nations capital in Reston, Virginia. There is a primate quarantine unit where a shipment of monkeys from the Philippines had just arrived. This shipment of monkeys would be a major cause for concern rather than the cute little primates they appeared as on the outside. These “animals were dying of Ebola Zaire,” a level four hot agent that the discovery team feared could wipe out the entire population of humans. This is where emotion flooded the book. These real characters had to contemplate their exposure to this virus. They would be put in the Slammer or the “The Biosafety Level 4 containment hospital,” that the Army uses to put people in for a month after they have been exposed to deadly hot virus. This slammer makes people go crazy. After they have determined that this deadly hot virus is plaguing the Monkey House, it is up to the team of the C.D.C. and the USAMRIID’s to figure out how to contain the virus and protect the safety of the human population. They go though a suspenseful process, but you will have to read the book to find out if this virus will break out. Will the United States itself become a Hot Zone?

            Preston is a brilliant writer and the way the book is written makes it very intriguing, emotional and relatable. He writes detailed description of his characters and his settings and the readers can picture themselves walking in the area of Mount Elgon in Africa. Just as you think the book is going to get boring, he comes in with a suspenseful account of how Ebola and Marburg have affected the lives of well-developed characters. He instills an attachment to the characters before he illustrates their brutal deaths. This gives the book a sort of deep emotion and evokes fear in the reader. It also talks about the first hand account of the lives of the career path and the mental sanity that is required to deal with level 4 hot agents daily. If the is one slip of this virus, these people could also bleed out and die. They volunteer their lives for the safety of the public. This book is an amazing read and it offers a clear and deep explanation of the potential effect a hot virus could have on the world. I would highly recommend reading it because readers get an exclusive view into the lives of those who live in the “Hot Zone,” and protect our lives everyday.

Malcolm H. Major
1/10/13
 AP Lang: Book Review

         “Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything” co-authored by an economist, Steven D. Levitt and a New York Times writer, Stephen J. Dubner, claims no unifying theme. As this book progresses we see a theme materialize, which is looking at the world in a revolutionary way; from an economics perspective. Levitt looks away from conventional “wisdom” and looks through the eyes of an economist, from parenting to crack dealers to the secret codes of the Klu Klux Klan and Real Estate agents. By wading through mountains of information Levitt shifts the data into cohesive answers to his many questions.
         This duo of Dubner and Levitt have created a book that conveys large amounts of information without boring its readers. It uses clear and concise language to change some of the many misconceptions surrounding our world. He looks at names, race, cheating sumo wrestlers and Schoolteachers, and abortion, all in ways that have not been thought of before. As you progress farther into the book, the duo makes many surprising statements that upset the preconceived ideas of the masses. The book begins with by asking what Schoolteachers and Sumo wrestlers have in common. It is our first look at incentives, which are the main focus of economics and at how easily these incentives can change our actions. It also explains the three basic incentives types: economic, social, and moral, with an example of the anti-smoking movement to easily show the meaning. The following chapter entitled “How Is The Klu Klux Klan Like a Group of Real-Estate Agents?” deals with using information to get a leg up. It shows how these two incredibly different groups use information asymmetry (where one group has better or more information than the other and use it to their benefit or the detriment of others). In the next chapter the book deals with conventional wisdom and how flawed it is. It turns out to be made up or flawed in an alarming amount of cases, with “experts” lying about statistics for personal gain. They show the damage of crack cocaine among black Americans while showing how only a small amount of drug dealers make it to the top while rest make very little money, exemplifying the falsities of our conventional wisdom. The next chapter asks “Where Have All The Criminals Gone?” where the authors plunge into massive amounts of data to discover the cause of the crime drop-off in the 1990’s. They argue very controversially that legalizing abortion has cut crime rates in the United States by using logical analysis of facts and dispelling fictitious ideas. In the following chapter they say that parenting doesn’t affect the child, but genetics plays the lead role. It also looks at experts that contradict each other despite seemingly being sure of what they are saying. The books final chapter deals with names and how they affect success. As the parents “first official act,” Levitt shows just how much effect names have on the outcome of the child. It also talks about the difference in black and white names and why names are chosen in the first place. The final chapter ends the book with giving you a little more knowledge about the world we inhabit and how it works.
          I really enjoyed this book, it was interesting, a word I do not usually associate with nonfiction book. Levitt’s mission to find out how the world works deeply interests me, which is part of the reason I enjoy this book so much, but also because how is it is written so to be easily understood. I would recommend this book to any.

“A Book We’d Miss,” Cleopatra Review

“A Book We’d Miss,” Cleopatra Review

Amber Furnée

January 12th

        Cleopatra: A Life is the phenomenal, extensive biography of Cleopatra herself, and “a book we’d miss if it didn’t exist” (Wall Street Journal). Within its pages Stacy Schiff covers the female legend’s family history, bureaucratic duties, representation as a goddess, and affairs with the two most powerful men of her time. Schiff covered everything she could about Cleopatra’s life and death, and succeeds in exposing and breaking down the biased image modern society has come to accept of her.

Stacy Schiff, the author of Cleopatra: A Life, has written three other biographies and has been presented with 15 honors and awards for writing, including the Pulitzer Prize for Vera, her book about Vera Nabokov, wife and muse of Lolita author Vladimir Nabokov. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Williams College in 1982, was a senior editor at Simon & Schuster for 8 years, and has regularly had articles and essays featured in The New Yorker, The New York Times and The Times Literary Supplement. One contribution to The Times was a whimsical and informative article called “Cleopatra’s Guide to Good Governance” including tips such as “obliterate your rivals”, “appearances count”, and “go big or go home”. This similar type of writing pervades throughout Schiff's book and helps the history she describes to flow off the page. This humor comes in handy when pointing out the shortcomings and biases of past historians.

In Cleopatra, Schiff tries to shed more light on an infamous historical figure whose real life, motives, and even appearance has remained shrouded in mystery. Her interaction with the other 'characters' in the book are thoroughly described and analyzed. Several of these times were Cleopatra’s meeting with Caesar and Mark Antony. Schiff does so in a way that includes each party's relevant past, personalities, and motives for each possible decision. When Cleopatra appears in a “sack of hemp” in front of Caesar, Schiff goes into his background of arriving before “the messengers sent to announce him" and having a “firm...grasp on human nature,” both ways to surprise his adversaries, as a way of showing why this move would surprise and impress him. However, Schiff often digressed on mostly unrelated tangents while trying to provide all relevant information. While still interesting, valuable information, it seems like there should be a better way or place to discuss a family’s incestual past or the scenery of the Nile than with 10 pages in the middle of a war. Apart from these tangential passages the book read very smoothly and like an adventure novel in the second half despite the several thousand year old ‘spoiler’..

I’ve never been a big ‘history buff’, but this biography gave me a rich taste of ancient civilization and the fascinating people who have made their mark on this world; a taste that pleasantly lingers on my tongue and makes me crave more. This is a book I would enjoy reading multiple times, and even has me interested in other historical biographies, so I would highly suggest it to anyone who doesn’t mind stumbling over highbrow vocabulary or lavish descriptions.

Maddie Gumerman's Review

In Defense of Food

There’s so much of it, so many decisions, and so many factors. I’m talking about food. The little things you need to know and the big things as well. What the difference is from what you need and what you want. Michael Pollon wrote In Defense of Food, a wonderful book, he does a great job describing what it means to eat healthy. He set the stage right by writing this book and not using it as a guide on how to eat, it’s simply a book defending what food has become.

Pollon wrote Omnivores Dilemma prior to writing In Defense of Food. Omnivores Dilemma captured the attention of many. After reading it people became curious to what they should eat. As the world questions what we “should” eat Pollon can only say it in a few simple words, “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” Well that seems easy, but still there is wonder to what are we are supposed to eat. Ok mostly plants, what about everything else in this world.  You need nutrients as Pollan describes, you need the food that is full fat rather than low fat. The labels on the products are tricking the world and we need to understand what’s right to eat. As the book continues on Pollon describes with great detail how a lot of the food we eat today has changed more than ever over that past hundreds of years and what we need to do about it. He is very persuasive and uses good examples and information to support his arguments to show the reader to believe in what he is saying.

Food has changed, yes that is very true. Food is becoming more processed and full of chemicals. The world isn’t recognizing what is good and bad for you. Pollon explains what America is mainly eating today is not essentially “real” food. Then we question what is “real” food. He describes that the food our country should eat is the food our ancestors would recognize as “real” food. That is so true. The food most people eat today is full of chemicals, colors and all this weird stuff, words we cant even pronounce. Our ancestors would have been shocked seeing some of the food we eat today. To eat good and healthy, eat what our ancestors would have eaten. Eat what is essential, Pollon explains.

As the book goes into detail about food, there was one thing that stuck out to me. Pollon did a great job showing me what is important when it comes to food. We need to find what is good for us, and escape the food that isn’t “real”. There is “real” food out there for us, in fact it’s good food, there just needs to be patient and dedication to finding that “real” food, as Pollon explains. You may in the end have to spend more time and money on food, making a decision to eat better, but truly it is better in the long run, for your health as Pollon describes it is better for everyone to eat healthier. Pollon truly believes the best way to be healthy is to “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” That’s it.

His book is not a book advising people to what to eat. It’s a book advising us to “eat food” and “to see it in a more positive light and count ourselves fortunate indeed that there is once again real food for us to eat.” Pollon doesn’t want us to give up, we have the opportunity to eat right and it’s worth it!