"Head Cases" takes us into the dark side of the brain in an
astonishing sequence of stories, at once true and strange, from the
world of brain injury.
Michael Paul Mason is one of an elite group of experts who
appear in the wake of tragic accidents and coordinate care that can
last a lifetime. On the road with Mason, we encounter survivors of
brain injuries as they struggle to map and make sense of the new
worlds they inhabit. We meet a snowboarder whose life became
permanently surreal after an errant jump; an "ultraviolent" child
who has lost the brain's instinctive check on the impulse to strike
out at others; a young man who cannot cry; and an Iraq war veteran
whose odd maladies suggest that brain injury will be the war's most
conspicuous legacy.
Underlying each of their stories is an exploration into the
brain and its mysteries. When injured, the brain must figure out
how to heal itself, reorganizing its physiology in order to do the
job, and Mason gives us a series of vivid glimpses into brain
science, the last frontier of medicine. We come away in awe of the
miracles of the brain's workings and astonished at the fragility of
the brain and the sense of self, life, and order that resides
there. "Head Cases" echoes both Oliver Sacks and Raymond Carver,
and is at once illuminating and deeply affecting.
General
Imprint: |
Farrar Straus Giroux
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
April 2009 |
First published: |
April 2009 |
Authors: |
Michael Paul Mason
|
Dimensions: |
210 x 140 x 21mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback - Trade
|
Pages: |
310 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-374-53195-9 |
Languages: |
English
|
Subtitles: |
English
|
Categories: |
Books >
Science & Mathematics >
Science: general issues >
General
|
LSN: |
0-374-53195-1 |
Barcode: |
9780374531959 |
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