

Oliver Sacks' memoir reveals a rebel with the human touch - benbreen
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/17/on-the-move-a-life-oliver-sacks-review

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benbreen
I'm about halfway through Sacks' new memoir and it's got to be one of the most
unexpected autobiographies I've ever read. Even his earlier memoir (the more
chemistry-focused Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood, which I
highly recommend) didn't prepare me for how incredibly interesting this man's
life has been. He seems to have one of those polymathic minds that could have
gone in dozens of different directions (not to mention a surprising streak of
physicality -- apparently he broke a California state weight-lifting record
when he lived in SF as a young medical resident!). It's not just an
intellectually interesting read, but a life affirming and moving one as well,
one of those books where you feel like the author is a friend.

Edit: his description of his use of LSD and amphetamines in the mid-60s
(elaborated more in his memoirs and in his previous book "Hallucinations") is
one of my favorite things to appear in the New Yorker in recent years; figured
I'd link to it here:

[http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/08/27/altered-
states](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/08/27/altered-states)

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lsniddy
Great piece, Proper link
[http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/08/27/altered-
states-...](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/08/27/altered-states-3)

~~~
peterjmag
Interesting! I wonder how that happened.

EDIT: The link, that is. Looks like the URL accepts any date, i.e.
[http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2099/05/19/altered-
states-...](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2099/05/19/altered-states-3). So
maybe benbreen just missed a couple characters when copying and pasting?

~~~
iak8god
benbreen just missed the "-3" at the end, or maybe even removed it
intentionally thinking it was a link to the third page of the article.

It is interesting that the date is ignored in the URL. It looks like the part
after the date is actually an identifier for the article made up of the title
+ "-1", "-2" etc when needed. The Sacks article is the third with the title
"Altered States."

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josephhainline
I'm very much enjoying his memoir. If you want to hear what Oliver Sacks
sounds like, there is a 10 - 20 minute interview with him in one of the latest
episodes of radiolab (it's the second story)

[http://www.radiolab.org/story/radiolab-live-telltale-
hearts-...](http://www.radiolab.org/story/radiolab-live-telltale-hearts-
featuring-oliver-sacks/)

Oliver is also on twitter (@OliverSacks). Anyone who is moved by his books
should send him a tweet and let him know what he means to you.

