Deemed a "poet laureate of contemporary medicine" and "one of the great clinical writers of the 20th century" by the New York Times, neurologist and science historian Oliver Sacks was (and remains) one of our favorite authors. He brought true literary style to his explorations of the human brain, finding insight in the anomalies and so-called disabilities he encountered in his patients—including himself.

In this now-classic book Oliver Sacks presents two dozen case studies of neurological patients, exploring their maladies and also their adaptations to try to understand how the brain works through instances of its failure. Here are patients who have lost decades of memories, who are no longer able to recognize people and common objects, who are stricken with violent tics and grimaces or who shout involuntary obscenities, who cannot feel their own limbs, and who have been dismissed as intellectually disabled yet are gifted with uncanny artistic or mathematical talents.