On the Move: A Life

Oliver Sacks has given us a wonderful book. Since there are already close to 50 high praising reviews, there is little which I can add to these. However, while keeping this a "5 Star" book in my estimation, I shall point out some areas that it could have been better.Sacks describes a seminal incident in his life in which he informed his farther that he is gay, and asks for this not to be disclosed to Oliver's mother.Nonetheless, the father does inform "Ma" about this, and the next morning she wakes up the 19 year old Oliver to inform him that he is an "abomination", quoting Leviticus and her orthodox Jewish teaching. Sacks is initially sexually undeterred by this, and lustily pursues gay sexual relations(hips) in his native England, Amsterdam, and then in the United States to which he emigrated, seemingly as a sexual refugee where he felt more freedom away from his wealthy, professional, successful, straight family. Sacks describes a life that seems to support several stereotypes embodied in the Village People: the motorcyclist, power-weight-lifter, resident of the San Francisco YMCA, etc. There is no question that he was strikingly handsome, and somewhat of an exhibitionist, as the cover of the book and photos inside (excellent and interesting) testify. He becomes a serious drug addict, and does not explain exactly how he went clean, except to indicate that he began intensive psychotherapy, which he continued for 50 years ! He never expresses gratitude for his extremely privileged background, and the family that had to have provided him with a great deal of financial support, judging by two-three times weekly psychotherapy, frequent trips to Amsterdam for sexual adventures, and numerous other international travels, well into middle age, when he finally had a financial break with a book publication. Better editing would have improved the book. Several facts are repeated two and three times. Sacks or the editor must believe that the reader does not remember. He tells us three times that he never became a US citizen, and that he "was celibate for 35 years starting in his 40's". What he never discloses is whether he firmly decided to become celibate for any single or combination of reasons: as a "mama's boy", was it too much to bear that his mother thought gay sex an abomination?, having had at least three romantic relationships before age 33 that did not last, was he burned out on love?, did he consider it to much of a liability for him to be out or even in the closet, for his career?, did the sexual allegations in his early 40's concerning some patients scare him off sex?, did the AIDS crisis seal the deal and make him anti-sex? We just do not know, but he does want us to know that he was celibate for 35 years. Concerning his never becoming a US citizen, no problem with he never becoming a duel citizen, and remaining British. However, he never expresses gratitude for America or the American system that allowed him to live in a great many ways that were unavailable to him in England. In fact, he cites it as advantageous to being a permanent resident, so that he never had to perform US civic duties such as voting or serving on a jury. ( he earlier told us how he outsmarted the system and never served in the then-compulsory military in Britain or Canada where he lived). I guess in his mind, he was just above all this. I found some of the scientific discussions in the last 60 pages a little too long. Yet after interesting us in a population on an island 1200 miles away from Guam because a large portion of the people are color-blind, he does not tell us what there lives are liken, and instead launches into one of his tributes to a fellow genius. Better editing could have condensed these without loosing the points of his about the processes of developing scientific thought and theory. In these last pages, one would have hoped for a summation of lessons learned in life, something more emotion revealing and less rational. He seems to have suppressed lots of emotion in his many years of celibacy. Judging by the many sexual adventures that he had prior to the decades of celibacy, the lack of sex with another person had to have had an impact, but he does not tell us how . He discloses that he is living his last months with a fatal diagnosis. After receiving this diagnosis, he allowed himself to again be open to love, and he found it, with a much younger writer, whom one expects will become his literary executor. I heard Sacks disclose in an interview once that he had lots of randy tales of which he has written that will come out following his death. In the same interview, he described himself as having "always been an aggressive atheist.". His book discloses that he loves Jewish ritual and that he attended a Christian Church in Minnesota on an island for a month or two while living there, and loved the sense of community. He does not state why he "always" has been an aggressive atheist. One may suspect why, but we do not have it from him in the book. A little too much of the last pages give a catalog of every ache and pain for the last many years. Again, bad editing. He state that he is afraid of death. One may speculate that his current state of being in love helps a bit with that. It is true that in many instances, he does seem to be in love with his own genius, a bit narcissistically throughout his life. He was a "late bloomer" without labeling himself as such. He did not hold real university positions until the time of life when many in such positions are taking early retirements. He was a loner researcher, which he says suited his personality. I wonder if much of the loner aspects of his life are defenses to stay in the closet concerning his sexuality. Considering that he is now 82 and grew up in times among people far harsher on gays than often is the case today, this is understandable. But again, we don't know answers to lots of questions that this "biography" fails to answer, by his own choosing. He views everything imaginable as related to his field of neurology/neuro science, but never speculates about how his own brain or thought processes may have been affected by his many years of drug use and addiction. Another editing issue, many of the tales about people cease moving the book along, and continue for additional pages more or less as tributes to the individuals who died "too young", etc. Finally, one wonders if he ever had sexual relationships or romantic longings for Auden or Thom Gunn? He writes as if he arrived in America with a crush on Gunn before ever having met him, with the attraction probably being that Gunn was gay and a drug abuser who died of an overdose. I doubt that he ever was in love with Auden, but he certainly seemed to be in love with the idea of a British gay celebrity in America, and may have let things proceed to put a notch on his bed at of time of life when Sacks was doing this. Notwithstanding all of the above, it is a great book that you should read.

In February 2017, the book discussion group met at The LGBT Center in NYC to discuss this autobiography.I was worried that people would be disappointed in the lack of gay sex in "On the Move," but instead, the amount of sex became a serious talking point. Almost everyone liked the first half of the book (which has a number of gay sex adventures) before Sacks became celibate for 35 years. Yes, Sacks finds a partner in the final pages of the book, but we also had to discuss this brief appearance.It seems that Sacks wasn't too self-aware or anxious to talk about his sexual appetites. Despite his keen observational skills, he seemed rather lost in discussing his own repressed sexuality and the number of times that he put himself among other men (weightlifting, riding motorcycles, hitchhiking, allowing bushy-bearded strangers to sort of move in, hanging out with gay poets - even if he doesn't identify them as gay in the book, and so on). One reader suggested that Sacks was "homosocial" rather than "homosexual" and that he liked being admired even if he wasn't too aware of his need for confirmation. In any case, Sacks never really "connects" with a sexual partner until late in life.Most of us found much of the writing rather flat, perhaps because it was written under rushed conditions (he died shortly after it was finished) or perhaps because that's how medical case studies are written, which is the default style for Sacks. He made a fetish of writing detailed case studies, returning to the Romantic 19th Century practice that doctors used for research.We also took Sacks to task for only mentioning AIDS once in passing. That seems to be a major omission for a doctor in NY and San Francisco in the 1980's and 1990's.An interesting discussion took place about his "perceptiveness" versus his "caring:" Which of these made him a better doctor? His perception is absolutely Sherlock Holmesian (Arthur Conan Doyle was also a doctor!) and everyone praises his caring nature.His rich life made most of us feel like we've really accomplished nothing. He's a great person, a terrific doctor, a reckless adventurer, a fabulous researcher, but not a great writer compared to other doctors and populizers (such as Siddhartha Mukherjee and Atul Gawande). Generally, "On the Move" is interesting but depends on a few great stories and lot of "and then and then" listing of accomplishments, books, trips, and famous friends. More reflection would be helpful. About that 35-year dry spell for sex, for example, what was that like? And your "face blindness," what could that be about? Any ideas why you found meth to be so attractive for so long? Any regrets or repercussions about being a serious drug user while practicing medicine?Despite these criticisms, we found the book to be mostly interesting (especially the first half) and informative.

Remarkably the book arrived in days, just as promised. I have not been a long-time user of Amazon, but since Covid, I have been increasingly using Amazon to obtain personal, business and health needs - particularly as my usual stores are difficult to access or do not actually carry the product. Amazon prices are very competitive and the range of available products is impressive. Finally the delivery/return policies have been excellent.

The life of a genius seen through the eyes of the genius himself. A life lived at the fullest.Oliver Sacks was a very curious, empathic, witty, extremely cultured man, always eager to learn new skills and open to new experiences whenever he had the chance, in a word, a life enthusiast.I certainly could have imagined what kind of man he was by reading his other books and essays, however it's the autobiography I'd recommend above the others, it is such a compelling reading.

It is futile to try and review this book. I was moved to buy this book upon reading Sacks' pseudo-obituary of himself not too long before his death. Truly: what a life! The book sheds light into a life that seemed illuminated from before but with so much concealed behind a thoughtful appearance. A must-read if anything.

Oliver Sacks beschreibt in einer entwaffnenden Offenheit den Verlauf seines beruflichen und privaten Lebens, wobei diese Verläufe bei einem Mediziner mit einer solch hohen Empathiefähigkeit für seine Patienten sehr oft starke Parallelen aufweisen. In der gewohnten Art werden einzelne Patienten, Ihre Erkrankungen und die Bedeutung dieser Erkrankung für das Umfeld medizinisch aber gleichzeitig sehr einfühlend beschrieben.Mit Olivier Sacks hat die Neurologie meiner Meinung nach im letzten Jahr einen gossen Menschen verloren.

Un gran libro a todo el que le guste Oliver Sacks, leer su autobiografía te ayuda a entender cómo este gran hombre se construyó a sí mismo, y cómo desarrolló una visión tan rica acerca del ser humano.En cuanto a la edición se trata de un libro de bolsillo, muy cómodo; una edición bonita.