I've read quite a few Oliver Sacks books, but never really knew much about the man himself, other than what he revealed in books which were, for the most part, about other people. He's always written with a great deal of humanity and compassion, curiosity and articulacy. I've now discovered that he was much more than his patients and the curious cases he has written about. He was a restless spirit, a man who never really fitted in anywhere, a shy man with particular obsessions - motorbikes, body building, swimming, the outdoors, and writing, always writing. He finished this book not long before he died, and perhaps the slightly episodic nature of it reflects that fact. It's not a straight narrative, rather it has themes, periods of time, and people he was influenced by, although it is roughly chronological. It's an honest, revealing, funny book, and a fitting last work; although he does hint at other, unfinished work. Possibly there will be more published?