This extraordinary revelation of a book became an instant classic and established Sacks as one of the greatest clinical writers of the century (The New York Times). Sacks narrates twenty case studies of patients lost in the strange world of neurological diseases, individuals who suffer from unprecedented problems with perception and who have lost much of their memory. The result is their incapacity to recognise their family and even everyday objects, and therefore being labelled as mentally retarded. Despite these adversities, Sacks demonstrates how these people nonetheless are gifted with unique artistic or scientific talent.