
Critic Reviews
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Based on 5 reviews on

The untold story of Dr. Oliver Sacks, his own most singular patient
"[An] engrossing biographical memoir. This is Sacks at full blast: on endless ward rounds, observing his post-encephalitic patients . . . exulting over horseshoe crabs and chunks of Iceland spar." --Barbara Kiser, Nature"Provide[s] striking glimpses into a remarkable life. Weschler resurrects the interviews he did in the early '80s with Sacks's friends and colleagues, and with Sacks himself, who illuminates his insistence not merely on the humanity of patients who suffered everything from extreme Tourette's to severe amnesia, but also on something spiritual within them . . . Compellingly, Weschler intertwines Sacks's searching empathy with his sheer strangeness." --Daniel Bergner, The New York Times Book Review
"Lawrence Weschler, a staff writer at The New Yorker from 1981 to 2002, has now given us a companion volume to [Oliver Sacks's] On the Move . . . With a rabbinical zest for ideas and disputation, these two Jewish intellectuals exchanged books and essays (by T. S. Eliot, Hannah Arendt, Albert Camus, Thomas Bernhard) and discussed them over Chinese food, or in each other's homes . . . The results are stirring." --Scott Sherman, Times Literary Supplement "[an] engrossing biographical memoir. This is Sacks at full blast: on endless ward rounds, observing his post-encephalitic patients . . . exulting over horseshoe crabs and chunks of Iceland spar. Weschler ends by speculating that Sacks altered neurological practice itself through his attentive compassion for the patients who feature in his stories." --Barbara Kiser, Nature "Written by one brilliant writer about another, this remarkable book is, in part, about the craft of writing . . . Weschler is a wonderful reporter . . . There are pages on conversations over dinner, and backstories on Awakenings and other books. The chapters have the feel of notes shaken out of folders, but they are beautifully readable and detailed. You feel as if you were at dinner with him, and Oliver has just paused to take a sip of water." --T.M. Luhrmann, The American Scholar "A rich, wry pleasure . . . Weschler uses [his] talent for dot-connecting to portray neurologist and author Oliver Sacks . . . [this] affectionate memoir reveals a man who was, at his core, propelled by wonder." --Karen Schechner, Bookforum "This latest memoir . . . is drawn from four years of extraordinary conversations in the early 1980s between writer Lawrence Weschler and Sacks . . . The result is a revelatory and poignant read-a gently voyeuristic glimpse inside one of the most eccentrically brilliant minds of the past century in all its neurotic, melancholic and triumphant complexity . . . What Weschler gives us is a moving glimpse of a man in motion and a loving friendship." --Natasha Mitchell, The Sydney Morning Herald "In genre terms, [this book is] neither fish nor fowl but, rather, some other odd, often delightful animal." --The New Yorker "In 1981, Lawrence Weschler, a New Yorker staff writer, began interviewing the brilliant neurologist Oliver Sacks . . . Their friendship endured, providing a lifetime of material. Shortly before his death in 2015, Sacks told his old friend it was time to publish: "Now, do it! You have to." And Weschler has, in spades." --Sarah Murdoch, Toronto Star "A wonderful portrayal of a brilliant, eccentric man." --People "A deeply personal account of the acclaimed neurologist . . . A thoroughly engaging and enchanting story." --Kirkus (starred review) "Oliver Sacks . . . comes across as a fascinating head case himself in this rollicking memoir . . . Sacks's many fans will love this entertaining portrait of a charismatic original." --Publishers Weekly "A unique account that reads like an extended, erudite, and entertaining New Yorker article . . . With Weschler's examination, Sacks's larger-than-life presence is humanized . . . Recommended for readers who wish they had had the privilege of knowing Sacks while he was alive." --Library Journal "Weschler serves up a potpourri of conversations, diary entries, interviews, letters and reportage to paint a vibrant portrait of his friend's fully engaged, at times frenetic, life . . . this blend of journalistic objectivity and subjective engagement in Sacks's daily life enlarges and complements the neurologist's self-portrait." --Harvey Freedenberg, Shelf Awareness "The story of Lawrence Weschler's faithful four-decade friendship with the amazing Oliver Sacks offers pleasures and amazements on every page. This loving but unblinking portrait will delight fans of Dr. Sacks as well as devotees of Weschler's always-pathfinding nonfiction."