Preface Summary and Analysis

Oliver Sacks explores his reasons for writing his book. He views himself as a type of dual personality—both clinician and romantic. His unique perspective allows him to see the people who are the focus of his case studies rather than merely observe his patients as medical files. Sacks chooses to call his chapters "stories" rather than "studies" and emphasizes that his patients move him to continually work and think. Sacks likens his tales to those of Arabian Nights and asserts that his patients are also heroes and archetypes like those found in fables.

At the outset, the reader becomes convinced Oliver Sacks seeks to present a series of stories, or anecdotes, about some of his more intriguing patients. The reader settles in to be regaled with amusing yet poignant excerpts from the lives of those afflicted with various neurological...