The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat is a thrilling book about the patients of Dr. Sacks. As a neurologist and talented poet, Sacks unravels his experiences with different psychological disorders. Although the book may seem daunting at first with the intense medical vocabulary, it incorporates Dr. Sack's great sense of humor into each case. Each case history is based on a different patient’s visit with Sacks, goes over the patient's symptoms, and nicely illustrates a unique worldview. A good portion of the book revolves around hallucinations; the man who mistook his wife for a hat was actually coping with realistic hallucinations.

Sacks also focuses on milder neurological syndromes such as Tourette’s, which is where the muscles on the face and body twitch involuntarily. In addition to sharing the results of his medical studies, Dr. Sacks also shares painful stories about his patients' battles with rare diseases. This makes the book a fluid and exciting book to read. Sacks has an amazing talent for making his writing understandable while neither forsaking the jargon he must use nor "dumbing down" the studies for a general audience. I learned a lot of perspective when reading this book because it gave insight into lives that you may never encounter in real life. Even though it is an emotional journey to read, Sacks eloquently describes his patients which makes the book an absolute page-turner.

Reviews by: Misha S.

Misha is a teen volunteer at the Westwood Branch Library who is a rising high school senior in the Los Angeles area.

—Ruth Chung, Young Adult Librarian, Westwood Branch Library