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Awakenings cover art

Awakenings

Written by: Oliver Sacks
Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Oliver Sacks
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Publisher's Summary

Awakenings - which inspired the major motion picture - is the remarkable story of a group of patients who contracted sleeping sickness during the great epidemic just after World War I. Frozen for decades in a trance-like state, these men and women were given up as hopeless until 1969, when Dr. Oliver Sacks gave them the then-new drug L-DOPA, which had an astonishing, explosive, "awakening" effect. Dr. Sacks recounts the moving case histories of his patients, their lives, and the extraordinary transformations which went with their reintroduction to a changed world.

PLEASE NOTE: Some changes have been made to the original manuscript with the permission of Oliver Sacks.

©1973, 1976, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1990 Oliver Sacks (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

What the critics say

"One of the most beautifully composed and moving works of our time." ( The Washington Post)

What listeners say about Awakenings

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outstanding, informative, entertaining.

this is not what I was expecting, I had anticipated a novel form of the movie Awakenings on which this was based. what I got was much more interesting.. an intimate look at many of the case studies on which the movie was based, all told with a narrative tone that might make a phone book a pleasurable read. The narration was excellent, as in 'the man who mistook his wife for a hat' and he will forever be the voice of Oliver Sacks to me.. I watched an interview on YouTube with him it didn't feel right... wrong voice.

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