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An Anthropologist on Mars

By Oliver Sacks
Series: Picador Collection
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Brief Description
In An Anthropologist on Mars, Oliver Sacks uses case studies to illustrate the myriad ways in which neurological conditions can affect our sense of self, our experience of the world, and how we relate to those around us. Writing with his trademark blend of scientific rigour... Read More
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From the bestselling author of Awakenings, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Musicophilia.

From the bestselling author of Awakenings, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Musicophilia. Now in the Picador Collection.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

In An Anthropologist on Mars, Oliver Sacks uses case studies to illustrate the myriad ways in which neurological conditions can affect our sense of self, our experience of the world, and how we relate to those around us.

Writing with his trademark blend of scientific rigour and human compassion, he describes patients such as the colour-blind painter or the surgeon with compulsive tics that disappear in the operating theatre; patients for whom disorientation and alienation—but also adaptation—are inescapable facts of life.

'An inexhaustible tourist at the farther reaches of the mind, Sacks presents, in sparse, unsentimental prose, the stories of seven of his patients. The result is as rich, vivid and compelling as any collection of short fictional stories' - Independent on Sunday

Now part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the very best of modern literature.

Series: Picador Collection

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781035068357

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 04 September 2025

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Picador

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 23.0mm

Width: 131.0mm

Height: 208.0mm

Weight: 240g

Pages: 352

Collections

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About the Author

Oliver Sacks was born in 1933 in London and was educated at the Queen's College, Oxford. He completed his medical training at San Francisco's Mount Zion Hospital and at UCLA before moving to New York, where he soon encountered the patients whom he would write about in his book Awakenings. Dr Sacks spent almost fifty years working as a neurologist and wrote many books, including The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Musicophilia, and Hallucinations, about the strange neurological predicaments and conditions of his patients. The New York Times referred to him as 'the poet laureate of medicine', and over the years he received many awards, including honours from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Royal College of Physicians. In 2008, he was appointed Commander of the British Empire. His memoir, On the Move, was published shortly before his death in August 2015.

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