1
of
1
The Lobotomist
A Maverick Medical Genius and His Tragic Quest to Rid the World of Mental Illness
Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.
Check link for latest rating. ( 938 ratings, 118 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still
learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Summary
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$5600
Unit price
/
Unavailable
International Supplier
This title is in-stock with overseas suppliers. While it is not available locally, we fly books in weekly from the US and UK to our Auckland warehouse for immediate dispatch.
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER
Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 2-3 weeks
Found a better price? Request a price match
The Lobotomist
$5600
Unit price
/
Unavailable
Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
Latest News
Why Is Harry Potter Still So Magical?
Today, 31 July, is Harry Potter's birthday. Every year it rolls around, I find myself...
Book Hero's Favourite Biographies!
The Book Hero team are sharing their favourite biography or memoir - some are recent...
Lizzy has a TBR issue thanks to the Booker Prize Longlist
Lizzy's TBR was already out of control and now there are 11 more books she...
Dr Paul Wood Visits Book Hero HQ
We absolutely loved having Dr Paul Wood pop into Book Hero HQ this week to...
The Longlist for the 2026 Booker Prize has been announced
TheΒ Longlist for the 2026 Booker Prize has been announced consisting of 13 novels also known...
See morePraise for The Lobotomist "Written with such clarity and engaging detail that a reader has difficulty in putting it down. " --The New York Review of Books "One of the many virtues of El-Hai's text is the rich detail he provides about Freeman's life and ideas. " --Los Angeles Times "Fascinating...
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
The Lobotomist explores one of the darkest chapters of American medicine: the desperate attempt to treat the hundreds of thousands of psychiatric patients in need of help during the middle decades of the twentieth century. Into this crisis stepped Walter Freeman, M.D., who saw a solution in lobotomy, a brain operation intended to reduce the severity of psychotic symptoms.
Although many patients did not benefit from the thousands of lobotomies Freeman performed, others believed their lobotomies changed them for the better. Drawing on a rich collection of documents Freeman left behind and interviews with Freeman's family, Jack El-Hai takes a penetrating look into the life of this complex scientific genius and traces the physician's fascinating life and work.
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
The Lobotomist by Jack El-Hai delves into the controversial world of lobotomy through the life of Walter Freeman, a physician dedicated to this drastic psychiatric treatment. While modern perspectives view lobotomy as clearly misguided, the book highlights how many significant medical professionals of the time supported Freeman's work. Despite the procedure's harsh criticism, El-Hai presents a nuanced view of Freeman, suggesting that he sometimes acted with his patients' best interests at heart, given the limitations of the era's medical understanding.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780470098301
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 02 March 2007
Country: United States
Imprint: John Wiley & Sons Inc
Illustration: Photos: 2 B&W, 0 Color
Audience: Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 27.0mm
Width: 142.0mm
Height: 216.0mm
Weight: 415g
Pages: 368
About the Author
JACK EL-HAI is the President of the American Society of Journalists and a contributor to the Atlantic Monthly, the Washington Post Magazine, American Heritage, and other publications. He is a past winner of the Minnesota Book Award and the June Roth Memorial Award for Medical Journalism.
Also by Jack El-Hai
View all-
Face Transplant
The captivating story of the first face transplant at Mayo Clinic. For years, they came in on weekends to plan and practiceβnearly sixty surgeons, nurses, and anaesthesiologists, preparing to harmonise in a vast medical symphony. For the team at Mayo Clinic, it was their most complex surgery to date: a face transplant. At the heart of this event was Andy...Hardback$5499Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
The Nazi and the Psychiatrist
In 1945, after his capture at the end of the Second World War, Hermann GΓΆring arrived at an American-run detention centre in war-torn Luxembourg, accompanied by sixteen suitcases and a red hatbox. The suitcases contained all manner of paraphernalia: medals, gems, two cigar cutters, silk underwear, a hot water bottle, and the equivalent of 1 million in cash. Hidden in...Paperback$3999Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks
More from Biography & Memoir
View all-
This Angry Pen of Mine
This Angry Pen of Mine by Layne Staley invites you to dive into the untold creative world of Layne Staley, the legendary voice behind Alice in Chains. This extraordinary collection showcases his handwritten lyrics, deeply personal poetry, stunning original artwork, rare photos, fan tributes, and so much more. Step into the world of Layne Staley like never before. For the...Hardback$7299Elsewhere:$8999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseFamesick
Chronicling the tumultuous decade between the premiere of Girls to her 2021 shotgunΒ wedding (minus the baby, because she has no uterus), Lena Dunham takes us through herΒ journey with her trademark mix of humor, unsparing honesty, and keen eye for detail. We peek behind the scenes - of her work, her family, her relationships, and her battle to reclaim her body...Paperback$3299Elsewhere:$3500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseDogs, Boys and Other Things I've Cried About
From the social media superstar behind @SimonSits, Isabel Klee--known for her heartwarming tales of dog rescue--comes an utterly winning memoir about a twentysomething woman's search for true love in New York City and the dogs who helped her find it. A Jersey girl by birth, Isabel Klee had always wanted to live in New York City. At age 20, she...Paperback$3299Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Stakes
Read our interview with author Noelle McCarthy! A darkly funny, sparkling follow-up to the authorβs bestselling memoirΒ Grand. You have to invite him in. You have to want the vampireβs badness in the house with you. Growing up in Catholic Ireland, Noelle McCarthy is captivated by Bram StokerβsΒ Dracula. The vampire is a risk-free fantasy, a suave alternative to the fraught realities...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$4000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseBuilt for This
Raised among strong women, butcher's benches, and hard ideas about what men are meant to be, Brad Poulter grows up knowing he's different long before he has the words for it. But in late '90s small-town New Zealand, 'different' isn't discussed, it's managed. Joining the Royal New Zealand Navy offers escape, certainty, and belonging. The rules are clear, the uniform...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Even the Good Girls Will Cry
Thanks to a thrown beer bottle and a fan letter to a P.O. box, Melissa Auf der Maur's first band scored an opening slot for the Smashing Pumpkins in her bohemian home town, Montreal. Sensing Melissa's talent, Billy Corgan recommended her to Courtney Love. Whisked from her local scene, Melissa joined Hole just after the deaths of Kurt Cobain and...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseAn Ocean and a Day
An utterly riveting, moving and poignant memoir of grief and loss that will speak to anyone who's ever lost someone they love. An Ocean and a Day is Hannah Richell's personal account of losing her husband, Matt, in a surfing accident on Tamarama beach in 2014. It is the story of the grief journey she travelled over the first two...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseA Place to Stand
A Place to Stand by Clare Ward is a profound memoir that delves into the life of a country doctor living and working in the Hokianga Harbour area in the far north of Aotearoa New Zealand. This region is sparsely populated and poses numerous health challenges. This thoughtful account details Clareβs thirty-year career, highlighting the people she works with and...Hardback$3199Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Rule of Lies
Written with all the pace and energy of a John Grisham novel β¦ An incredible true story and a great read! BILL BROWDER, author of Red Notice and Freezing Order An American lawyerβs brilliant, propulsive story of witnessing and playing a part in the transformation of Russia under Yeltsin and Putin. A true tale of fascinating personalities, criminal intrigue, harrowing...Paperback$2999Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableBackorderShips late August -
New ReleaseRory
TheΒ New York TimesΒ bestseller The #1Β Irish TimesΒ bestseller The definitive biography of Rory McIlroy, the most important, popular and confounding player of the post-Tiger era. Rory McIlroy contains multitudes. The child of a working-class family from a small town in a war-torn homeland now commutes to work in his own private jet and counts billionaires as confidants. He can overwhelm a golf...Paperback$3699Elsewhere:$4199Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseTe Kaikaukau | The Swimmer
Novelist, memoirist and playwright Witi Ihimaera β author of Pounamu, Pounamu and The Whale Rider β decided, at the age of eighty, to dive back into the water and spend a year full-time at Te WΔnanga Takiura, immersing himself in his own language, in te reo MΔori. This book tells the story of this kaikaukau, this swimmer, and his year...Paperback$3500Elsewhere:$4500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
16% offNew ReleaseThis Is Me: A Reckoning
This is a searingly honest and moving memoir from double Golden Globe-nominatedactress Hayden Panettiere. Hayden Panettiere has been in front of the camera since before she could talk. She roseto stardom typecasted as Hollywood's blonde girl next door. As a young celebrity,naysayers were certain she would crash and burn. Not one to disappoint, she did.Hayden Panettiere's irreverent memoir satisfies our...Paperback$2700Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today
Why buy from us?
Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!
Service & Delivery
Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.
Auckland Bookstore
We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.
Our Gifting Service
Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.
