Nine years of unexplained nightmares and hallucinations left Pat Long questioning his sanity. Finally the cause was uncovered: a rare tumour the size of a lemon growing in the right side of his brain. Aged thirty-five, Pat was at the beginning of a journey that raised as many questions as it answered.
Two major surgeries have successfully controlled the cancer but left him with epilepsy and symptoms ranging from intense d¿j¿ vu to blackouts and hallucinations. He now lives with an inability to trust his brain and a sense that his identity has changed irreversibly.
Determined to come to terms with this new reality, Pat sets out to discover the truth about memory, dreams, imagination and consciousness. Here he works with scientists and clinicians whose cutting-edge research is providing new insights into the capabilities and the fragility of the brain, as well as drawing on philosophy, history, literature and his own remarkable experience.
Pat's case is extreme but the insights are universal. This is a book that will help us all gain a clearer understanding of what makes us who we are.