A Leg to Stand On

‘Oliver Sacks is a perfect antidote to the anaesthetic of familiarity. His writing turns brains and minds transparent’ Observer When Oliver Sacks a physician by profession injured his leg while climbing a mountain he found himself in an unusual position – that of patient. The injury itself was severe but straightforward to fix; the psychological effects however were far less easy to predict explain or resolve: Sacks experienced paralysis and an inability to perceive his leg as his own instead seeing it as some kind of alien and inanimate object over which he had no control. A Leg to Stand On is both an account of Sacks’ ordeal and subsequent recovery and an exploration of the ways in which mind and body are inextricably linked.