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| My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey | 
 enlarge | Author: Jill Bolte Taylor
Publisher: Viking Adult
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $13.15
You Save: $11.80 (47%)
New (67) Used (19) from $13.15
Avg. Customer Rating:  144 reviews
Sales Rank: 112
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 192
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.2 x 0.9
ISBN: 0670020745
Dewey Decimal Number: 362.196810092
EAN: 9780670020744
ASIN: 0670020745
Publication Date: May 14, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Not impressed............. April 16, 2008
33 out of 133 found this review helpful
This book was a bit too far out on a limb for me. The spiritual side of having a stroke, while interesting, was not what I was interested in. It seems the author made a tremendous journey from being a left-brained analytical scientist to a right-brain warm and fuzzy humanist. Interesting reading, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone needing information from a caregiver's perspective or anyone interested in helpful information on stroke recovery.
 Who is telling this story? June 27, 2008
27 out of 54 found this review helpful
As a result of the stroke, the author's left cerebral hemisphere was severely impaired. The author tells us what this loss implies: "My left hemisphere had been trained to perceive myself as a solid, separate from others. Now, released from that restrictive circuity, my right hemisphere relished in its attachments to the eternal flow. I was no longer isolated and alone. My soul was as big as the universe and frolicked with glee in a boundless sea."
If you are a dualist, this story will make perfect sense to you. If you are not, you might find yourself asking, "Who is telling this story?" For example, "The now off-line intellectual mind of my left hemisphere no longer inhibited my innate awareness that I was the miraculous power of life." This is a story that must have been invented by the author's now-recovered left hemisphere, since it was "off-line" at the time. The story is told by a neuroanatomist but don't be misled; it has little to do with neuroscience. The story is as much an invention as it is a report. How much of the story is confabulation? Is there any way for us, or even for the storyteller, to know? If you are looking for a pleasant fantasy, you won't be disappointed. Look for your neuroscience somewhere else.
 My Stroke of Insight March 8, 2007
22 out of 26 found this review helpful
An absolutely wonderful journey by a brain anatomist who suffered a stroke. Her resilience, her deep understanding of the condition and lessons to be learned by her and other health care professionals is outstanding. A must read for anyone whether faced with a health problem or not. Is a mind awakening experience!!!
Great book May 5, 2008
21 out of 25 found this review helpful
How often do you get to hear a neuroscientist describe her own stroke?
This is an amazing story on three levels; physical, emotional, and spiritual. Dr. Jill description of her eight year recovery is both uplifting and powerful. But the spiritual aspect is alone worth the price of admission. (I won't spoil it for you.)
Dr. Bolte-Taylor is not a writer of prose. Her style is that of someone experienced in writing scientific papers; factual, concise and parsimonious. But the content! That is what makes this a great book in my opinion.
A quick read but a powerful story.
Danny
Interesting quick read August 4, 2008
20 out of 25 found this review helpful
The author describes minutely her subjective experience of having a stroke and her struggle to recover. It's a quick primer on brain functioning, particularly on the activites of the right and left hemispheres. One feels great empathy and admiration.
However, the book could easily have been a magazine article, as it is quite repetitious. First, it becomes a catalogue of thank-yous to her mother, who aided her recovery. Second, it is an under-edited exhortation to train our minds to choose right-hemisphere thinking, which is more loving and accepting and less judgmental. Oops. Maybe I still need practice on that.
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