This taut, compelling drama centers on a radical brain operation performed on two little girls with a horrible and disfiguring disease, dysfonia musculorum deformans.

"It is a rare individual who can excel at two such diverse and demanding arts as brain surgery and literature. Dr. Irving Spencer Cooper is just such as unusual person, an innovative, skillful—yes, daring—neurosurgeon who has written an artistic, gripping, enlightening book. . . . It should be required reading for all who treat the precious human condition."—Jane Brody, New York Times

"A profoundly human book . . . [that] makes most novels sound like the shallowest fabrications."—C. P. Snow, New York Times Book Review

"This brief, unforgettable book is a celebration of some of the bravest people in our modern world. These heroes are children, their parents, and a brilliant, pioneering brain surgeon who, together, have faced and overcome a towering medical challenge. I was deeply moved; once I began it, I could not put it down."—Robert K. Massie

"Remarkable. . . . Should be read by all physicians strong enough to be critical of themselves."—AMA Journal

Over the past two decades at the Institute of Neuroscience at St. Barnabas Hospital, Dr. I. S. Cooper and his colleagues have examined and treated more than 30,000 patients with chronic neurologic disease. In this book, Dr. Copper speaks directly to both patient and family as though they were with him in his consulting room. He offers counsel about selecting a physician and establishing a relationship based on mutual trust and respect. He deals with the problems of anxiety and loneliness, and helps the patient plan as fruitful and independent a life as possible. Physical therapy and forms of self-help many of which can be practiced in the home are dealt with."