River of Consciousness

Creativity Depends on Openness to Change

How we wish Dr. Sacks were still alive to see the glorious reviews for his new book, The River of Consciousness. In this week’s New York Times Book Review, Nicole Krauss writes:

“In his more than 45 years of writing books . . . Sacks taught us much about how we think, remember, and perceive, about how we shape our sense of the world and ourselves. His case studies of those with neurological disorders were works of literature even while they broke scientific ground. . . . The River of Consciousness, a collection of essays he worked on until his death, contains reflections on the evolution of life and the evolution of ideas, on the workings of memory, the process of consciousness, and the nature of creativity, alongside examinations of his own mishearings and misrememberings and his experience of illness.”

Everything he wrote, she continues, was infused with a “combination of wonder, passion and gratitude [that] never seemed to flag in Sacks’s life. . . . But it was his openness to new ideas and experiences, and his vision of change as the most human of biological processes, that synthesized all of his work.”

We send you warmest wishes for the holidays, and hope that, in the spirit of gratitude and change, you will consider giving to your favorite nonprofit organizations. Some of Dr. Sacks’s favorites were the New York Botanical Garden, Conservation International, Doctors Without Borders, Fountain House, CooperRiis, the National Aphasia Association, and the Tourette Syndrome Association. Should you wish to directly support the work of the Oliver Sacks Foundation, your contribution will help us further the cause of narrative and humanist medicine.

The River of Consciousness is available in e-book, audio, and hardcover formats. Translations so far are available in Germany, the Netherlands, Brasil, and Portugal, with many other languages coming soon!

We are grateful for your support.

Best wishes from
The Oliver Sacks Foundation