oliver sacks everything in its place review

They were kindred spirits, and both had been through a lot. According to Bill, the two men had a deep connection despite their 30 year age difference.

Oliver enjoyed the new found companionship with Bill, savoring the time they spent together making dinner and everyday chores like loading the dishwasher.

Previously, Bill had written to Oliver Sacks about one of his books, and coincidently, once in NYC, they ran into each other in the west village and they developed an intellectual and romantic kinship. At 48 years old, in the spring of 2009, Bill moved to NYC to reinvent himself after the devastating loss of Steve, his long time partner of 17 years, passed away suddenly. He wrote a trilogy about medical history and the human body, and he studied anatomy at UCSF. Oliver had no romantic relationships for most of his life while he concentrated on his work.īill Hayes lived in San Francisco for 25 years. He lived at the hospital where Awakenings patients were being housed and he put all his efforts into his job as a physician and neurologist. Oliver grew up in a Jewish home and left England at 27 years old. My book club and I had the incredible opportunity to meet with Bill and we discussed his unsurpassable relationship with the brilliant neurologist and learned about their interests and the wonderful friendship and love they shared. Bill wrote the must-read memoir, Insomniac City: New York, Oliver and Me, along with 3 other non-fiction books, and a book of photography called How New York Breaks Your Heart. Sacks lived alone, focusing on his work most of his life, but in his seventies he fell in love and enjoyed a wonderful 8 years with author and photographer, Bill Hayes. Everything In Its Place consists of his essays that were configured into this book and released post mortem. He passed away in 2015 at 82 years old from cancer. He was celibate for 40 years and was private regarding his sexuality. Oliver swam every day, was severely shy and suffered from prosopagnosia (was unable to recognize faces). He was a true, deep thinker and scientist who studied the past. In his final compilation of essays, Everything In Its Place, he talked about a myriad of topics, from his love of libraries, to how cold temperatures stop the growth of cancer, from dreams and near death experiences to medical case studies and a town where everyone has Tourette’s Syndrome. Oliver Sacks, the bestselling author and professor of neurology wrote many books about his patients, his own disorders and nature, including the notable, Awakenings.

Oliver sacks everything in its place review