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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 chem

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

lsniddy 11y ago
Great piece, Proper link http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/08/27/altered-states-3 http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/08/27/altered-states-...
- peterjmag 11y ago
  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-3 http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2099/05/19/altered-states-.... So maybe benbreen just missed a couple characters when copying and pasting?
  - iak8god 11y ago
    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."
vanderZwan 11y ago
Here's a synopsis of the book with a nice collection of photo's (presumably from the book), including one of him breaking the weightlifting record: http://www.brainpickings.org/2015/05/18/oliver-sacks-on-the-move/ http://www.brainpickings.org/2015/05/18/oliver-sacks-on-the-...

lsniddy 11y ago

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

peterjmag 11y ago
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-3 http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2099/05/19/altered-states-.... So maybe benbreen just missed a couple characters when copying and pasting?
- iak8god 11y ago
  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."

vanderZwan 11y ago

Here's a synopsis of the book with a nice collection of photo's (presumably from the book), including one of him breaking the weightlifting record: http://www.brainpickings.org/2015/05/18/oliver-sacks-on-the-move/ http://www.brainpickings.org/2015/05/18/oliver-sacks-on-the-...