wow sounds very chim......from the following reviews....
"The Shattered Mind" was first published in 1975, and its
usefulness has not diminished in the quarter century since then.
Yes, there have been dramatic changes in the neurological sciences
since that time, but because the book deals with the "basics," it
is still as relevant and useful as when it was first published.
Howard Gardner's tone is uniformly optimistic and up-beat without
being saccharine, something that is probably greatly appreciated by
those suffering a sudden brain injury and by their relatives. The
book allows them to acquire useful factual information and it also
encourages them to develop the more rare and desirable qualities of
hope and optimism when facing their difficult times.
Gardner was given the MacArthur Prize Fellowship ("The Genius
Award"), in part, for this book. There was a time in my life when I
frequently had to deal with relatives of stroke victims, and it was
this book that I most often recommended when I was asked for
literature about brain injuries and their effect on the emotions
and personalities of the victims. This book has done incalculable
good to those needing a quick manual to allow them to understanding
the brain and its functions.
The book manages to be scientifically rigorous while at the same
time making its material easily accessible to any reasonably
intelligent adult. There is no need to know neuroanatomy or
neuropathology to enjoy the book. Its prose is compellingly easy,
and the material is rendered with a story-teller's touch. Readers
who have sampled the masterful work of neurologist Oliver Sacks
("The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat," "Awakenings" and many
other books) will also treasure this one.
Reviewer: A reader
Amnesia is the loss of memory, something that happenes to many with
brain injury. What medicine does not understand is why the brain
does what it does, what motives it. Gardner has put into words what
many have tried but never done successfully: describe and relate
the indescribeable and unrelateable. I was amnesic for over 16
years; recovery showed me about "self", identity, and reasons for
our actions and thoughts. Gardner has expressed what I learned
without having to have been amnesic. A must for anyone who wants to
learn about personality, what it is, what impairments can do to
one's personality.
