The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
By Oliver Sacks
The book is a collection of clinical tales that explore various neurological disorders and their impact on individuals. Each chapter presents a different case study, describing patients with unusual and often profound neurological conditions.
The title story recounts the case of a man with visual agnosia, a condition where he could not recognise familiar objects, including the faces of people, leading to the striking incident of mistaking his wife for a hat. Other stories in the book delve into conditions such as Tourette’s syndrome, amnesia, and aphasia, offering insights into the complexities of the human brain and the ways in which neurological disorders can affect perception, cognition, and behaviour.