Memoirs of an Addicted Brain - Hardcover

Lewis, Marc

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1610391470 ISBN 13: 9781610391474

Verlag: PublicAffairs,U.S., 2012

Inhaltsangabe

Book by Marc Lewis

Über diesen Titel

Críticas

Kirkus review in January 1 issue: "Developmental neuroscientist Lewis examines his odyssey from minor stoner to helpless, full-blown addict....as [he] unspools one pungent drug episode after another, he capably knits into the narrative an accessible explanation of the neural activity that guided his behavior. From opium pipe to orbitofrontal cortex, a smoothly entertaining interplay between lived experience and the particulars of brain activity." Publishers Weekly "Meticulous, evocative... Lewis's unusual blend of scientific expertise, street cred, vivid subjectivity and searching introspection yields a compelling perspective on the perils and allure of addiction." Wall Street Journal "Compelling...for readers grappling with addiction, Mr. Lewis's...approach might well be novel enough to inspire them to seek the happiness he now enjoys." Chronicle of Higher Education "He proceeds deftly from episodes of his drug years to neuroscientific explanations of his brain's response to drugs." Boston Globe "A surprising and charming addition to this crowded genre. Yes, it embraces the classic redemption narrative - teenage experimentation, late-'60s Berkeley, exotic forays into Malaysia and Calcutta, the inevitable slide into deception, crime, and desperation. But he ends up a professional neuropsychologist, able to enliven the tired streams of addled consciousness with metrical rapids of semi-hard science." Guardian"Marc Lewis's brilliant - if not wholly sympathetic - account of his many mind-bludgeoning drug experiences wears its biological determinism on its sleeve ... Lewis has certainly woven his experiences into an unusual and exciting book... (Memoirs of an Addicted Brain) is as strange, immediate and artfully written as any Oliver Sacks case-study, with the added scintillation of having been composed by its subject."The Fix"the most original and illuminating addiction memoir since Thomas De Quincey's seminal Confessions of an Opium Eater...[an] electrifying debut."Midwest Book Review "A powerful survey recounting the author's powerful addiction and how he broke an intense hold on drugs... This will appeal to a range of collections, from those strong in autobiographies to science and health holdings alike." "Kirkus "review in January 1 issue: "Developmental neuroscientist Lewis examines his odyssey from minor stoner to helpless, full-blown addict....as [he] unspools one pungent drug episode after another, he capably knits into the narrative an accessible explanation of the neural activity that guided his behavior. From opium pipe to orbitofrontal cortex, a smoothly entertaining interplay between lived experience and the particulars of brain activity." "Publishers Weekly" "Meticulous, evocative... Lewis's unusual blend of scientific expertise, street cred, vivid subjectivity and searching introspection yields a compelling perspective on the perils and allure of addiction." "Wall Street Journal ""Compelling...for readers grappling with addiction, Mr. Lewis's...approach might well be novel enough to inspire them to seek the happiness he now enjoys." "Chronicle of Higher Education" "He proceeds deftly from episodes of his drug years to neuroscientific explanations of his brain's response to drugs.""Boston Globe""A surprising and charming addition to this crowded genre. Yes, it embraces the classic redemption narrative - teenage experimentation, late-'60s Berkeley, exotic forays into Malaysia and Calcutta, the inevitable slide into deception, crime, and desperation. But he ends up a professional neuropsychologist, able to enliven the tired streams of addled consciousness with metrical rapids of semi-hard science." "Guardian""Marc Lewis's brilliant - if not wholly sympathetic - account of his many mind-bludgeoning drug experiences wears its biological determinism on its sleeve ... Lewis has certainly woven his experiences into an unusual and exciting book... ("Memoirs of an Addicted Brain") is as strange, immediate and artfully written as any Oliver Sacks case-study, with the added scintillation of having been composed by its subject.""The Fix""the most original and illuminating addiction memoir since Thomas De Quincey's seminal" Confessions of an O "Kirkus "review in January 1 issue: "Developmental neuroscientist Lewis examines his odyssey from minor stoner to helpless, full-blown addict....as [he] unspools one pungent drug episode after another, he capably knits into the narrative an accessible explanation of the neural activity that guided his behavior. From opium pipe to orbitofrontal cortex, a smoothly entertaining interplay between lived experience and the particulars of brain activity." "Publishers Weekly" "Meticulous, evocative... Lewis's unusual blend of scientific expertise, street cred, vivid subjectivity and searching introspection yields a compelling perspective on the perils and allure of addiction." "Wall Street Journal ""Compelling...for readers grappling with addiction, Mr. Lewis's...approach might well be novel enough to inspire them to seek the happiness he now enjoys." "Chronicle of Higher Education" "He proceeds deftly from episodes of his drug years to neuroscientific explanations of his brain's response to drugs.""Boston Globe""A surprising and charming addition to this crowded genre. Yes, it embraces the classic redemption narrative - teenage experimentation, late-'60s Berkeley, exotic forays into Malaysia and Calcutta, the inevitable slide into deception, crime, and desperation. But he ends up a professional neuropsychologist, able to enliven the tired streams of addled consciousness with metrical rapids of semi-hard science." "Guardian""Marc Lewis's brilliant - if not wholly sympathetic - account of his many mind-bludgeoning drug experiences wears its biological determinism on its sleeve ... Lewis has certainly woven his experiences into an unusual and exciting book... ("Memoirs of an Addicted Brain") is as strange, immediate and artfully written as any Oliver Sacks case-study, with the added scintillation of having been composed by its subject." "The Fix""the most original and illuminating addiction memoir since Thomas De Quincey's seminal" Confessions "Memoirs of an Addicted Brain . . . takes on all of human longing. Unlike many of his brain science colleagues and fellow addicts, Dr. Lewis can write. One moment, he is remembering the details of his life as an addict; the next, he is reconstructing, based on newer scientific findings, what the drugs were doing to his brain. The result is not just a book about a brain on drugs, but a picture of addiction as an unavoidable urge of human nature. . . . It's the way he drapes his scientific understanding of human chemical function over the frame of his own life that makes his memoir compelling." --"The Globe and Mail" "In his book, Lewis seamlessly integrates the physiology and psychology of addiction with his own vivid, disturbing memories. It's a fascinating and fact-filled glimpse into the world of needles and need." --"Georgia Straight"

Reseña del editor

Marc Lewis's relationship with drugs began in a New England boarding school where, as a bullied and homesick fifteen-year-old, he made brief escapes from reality by way of cough medicine, alcohol, and marijuana. In Berkeley, California, in its hippie heyday, he found methamphetamine and LSD and heroin. He sniffed nitrous oxide in Malaysia and frequented Calcutta's opium dens. Ultimately, though, his journey took him where it takes most addicts: into a life of addiction, desperation, deception, and crime.But unlike most addicts, Lewis recovered and became a developmental psychologist and researcher in neuroscience. In Memoirs of an Addicted Brain, he applies his professional expertise to a study of his former self, using the story of his own journey through addiction to tell the universal story of addictions of every kind. He explains the neurological effects of a variety of powerful drugs, and shows how they speak to the brain--itself designed to seek rewards and soothe pain--in its own language. And he illuminates how craving overtakes the nervous system, sculpting a synaptic network dedicated to one goal--more--at the expense of everything else.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: PublicAffairs,U.S.
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1610391470
• ISBN 13: 9781610391474
• Einband: Tapa dura
• Sprache: Englisch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 336