"Provide[s] striking glimpses into a remarkable life. Weschler resurrects the interviews he did in the early ’80s with Sacks’s friends and colleagues, and with Sacks himself, who illuminates his insistence not merely on the humanity of patients who suffered everything from extreme Tourette’s to severe amnesia, but also on something spiritual within them . . . Compellingly, Weschler intertwines Sacks’s searching empathy with his sheer strangeness." —Daniel Bergner, The New York Times Book Review
"[an] engrossing biographical memoir. This is Sacks at full blast: on endless ward rounds, observing his post-encephalitic patients . . . exulting over horseshoe crabs and chunks of Iceland spar. Weschler ends by speculating that Sacks altered neurological practice itself through his attentive compassion for the patients who feature in his stories." —Barbara Kiser, Nature
"In genre terms, [this book is] neither fish nor fowl but, rather, some other odd, often delightful animal." —The New Yorker
"In 1981, Lawrence Weschler, a New Yorker staff writer, began interviewing the brilliant neurologist Oliver Sacks . . . Their friendship endured, providing a lifetime of material. Shortly before his death in 2015, Sacks told his old friend it was time to publish: “Now, do it! You have to.” And Weschler has, in spades." —Sarah Murdoch, Toronto Star
"A wonderful portrayal of a brilliant, eccentric man." —People
"A deeply personal account of the acclaimed neurologist . . . A thoroughly engaging and enchanting story." —Kirkus (starred review)
"Oliver Sacks . . . comes across as a fascinating head case himself in this rollicking memoir . . . Sacks’s many fans will love this entertaining portrait of a charismatic original." —Publishers Weekly
"A unique account that reads like an extended, erudite, and entertaining New Yorker article . . . With Weschler's examination, Sacks's larger-than-life presence is humanized . . . Recommended for readers who wish they had had the privilege of knowing Sacks while he was alive." —Library Journal
"Weschler serves up a potpourri of conversations, diary entries, interviews, letters and reportage to paint a vibrant portrait of his friend's fully engaged, at times frenetic, life . . . this blend of journalistic objectivity and subjective engagement in Sacks's daily life enlarges and complements the neurologist's self-portrait." —Harvey Freedenberg, Shelf Awareness
“The story of Lawrence Weschler’s faithful four-decade friendship with the amazing Oliver Sacks offers pleasures and amazements on every page. This loving but unblinking portrait will delight fans of Dr. Sacks as well as devotees of Weschler’s always-pathfinding nonfiction.”
—Ian Frazier, staff writer at The New Yorker and author of Travels in Siberia
“This is one of the best examples I have ever read of a biographical memoir made luminous by the exquisite sympathy that sometimes develops between subject and writer. Really, an achievement!”
—Vivian Gornick, author of The Odd Woman and the City
“Two offbeat and complicated men step into a rowboat; a thirty-year intellectual romance ensues. No one but Lawrence Weschler could tell the story with as much polymathic perversity and emotional resonance. Oliver Sacks is such a remarkably literary character that reading this book feels like devouring a novel.”
—Laura Kipnis, author of Unwanted Advances
“And How Are You, Dr. Sacks? is an enthralling, humorous, and comprehending memoir of the life and work of Oliver Sacks. It is more besides. This beautiful book is the product of the decades-long friendship that came into existence as the brilliant and ambitious journalist took on the project of profiling the beloved neurologist. Weschler brings to his subject something like the same personal investment and engagement that Sacks himself brought to his individual patients. How marvelous, and how improbable, and what a fitting tribute to Oliver Sacks that in Lawrence Weschler he meets his narrative match!”
—Alva Noë, author of Infinite Baseball and Strange Tools: Art and Human Nature
“The posthumous Oliver Sacks lives on in this deeply empathic memoir. As much collaborator as interviewer, Lawrence Wechsler knows when to probe and when to remain silent. You’d think Sacks had covered it all in his numerous books, but luckily for us there turn out to be corners as yet unexplored and fresh insights to be gleaned from more familiar biographical territory. In this candid portrait, we feel even more intensely and organically the bond Sacks shared with his patients.”
—Molly Haskell, author of Steven Spielberg: A Life in Films
07/01/2019
Weschler (Waves Passing in the Night) met with the late British neurologist Oliver Sacks (1933–2015) almost weekly from 1981 to 1984, compiling 15 volumes of source material comprised of interviews with Sacks himself, as well as his lifelong friends, colleagues, and family members. The intention was to write a biography, but Sacks, uncomfortable with making public certain aspects of his personal life (primarily his sexuality) asked Weschler to shelve the project. As Sacks neared death from terminal cancer, he asked Weschler to return to the book. The result is a unique account that reads like an extended, erudite, and entertaining New Yorker article; this is unsurprising since Weschler was a staff writer for the magazine for two decades. With Weschler's examination, Sacks's larger-than-life presence is humanized. Readers are essentially in the room with Sacks and Weschler as they converse about many topics, including Sacks's childhood, experimentation with drugs, mentors, and work with patients. VERDICT This biographical memoir offers a window into the world Sacks inhabited—a world full of brilliance, insecurity, and a robust enthusiasm for life. Recommended for readers who wish they had had the privilege of knowing Sacks while he was alive.—Ragan O'Malley, Saint Ann's Sch., Brooklyn
