Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
The renowned neurologist and bestselling author of Awakenings takes us on a journey into the world of Deaf culture, and the underpinnings of the remarkable visual language of the congenitally deaf. - "This book will shake your preconceptions about the deaf, about language and about thought.... One of the finest and most thoughtful writers of our time." --Los Angeles Times Book Review
Like The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, this is a fascinating voyage into a strange and wonderful land, a provocative meditation on communication, biology, adaptation, and culture. In Seeing Voices, Oliver Sacks turns his attention to the subject of deafness, and the result is a deeply felt portrait of a minority struggling for recognition and respect--a minority with its own rich, sometimes astonishing, culture and unique visual language, an extraordinary mode of communication that tells us much about the basis of language in hearing people as well. Seeing Voices is, as Studs Terkel has written, "an exquisite, as well as revelatory, work."
Synopsis
In Seeing Voices "one of the great clinical writers of the 20th century" (New York Times Book Review) turns his attention to the subject of deafness, and the result is a beautiful and immensely moving book, one that not only takes us into the world of the deaf but offers a deeply felt portrait of a minority struggling for recognition and respect". Seeing Voices opens with a history of the deaf, tracing their courageous battle for acceptance in a hearing world, and goes on to consider ASL, the extraordinary mode of communication that has wide-ranging implications for the hearing as well. Finally, Dr. Sacks examines the uprising of deaf students at Gallaudet University and considers its impact on a new generation of deaf children. Like The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Seeing Voices is a fascinating voyage into a strange and wonderful land, a provocative meditation on communication, biology, and culture.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [197]-213) and index.
About the Author
Oliver Sacks lives in New York City.