“This is Sam Kean’s finest work yet, an entertaining and offbeat history of the brain populated with mad scientists, deranged criminals, geniuses, and wretched souls. The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons is one of those books that will have you following your friends around, reading passages out loud, until they snatch the book away from you and read it for themselves. Good luck getting it back.”
—Amy Stewart, author of The Drunken Botanist

“Put your Netflix queue on hold. Sam Kean’s The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons will command your full attention from the first page. It’s not just an engaging guide to mysteries of existence; it’s compelling story-telling for anyone with a taste for the bizarre and metaphysical.”
—William Poundstone, author of Rock Breaks Scissors

“In tale after tale, best-selling author Kean provides a fascinating, and at times gloriously gory, look at how early efforts in neurosurgery were essentially a medical guessing game…. Entertaining and quotable, Kean’s writing is sharp, and each individual story brings the history of neuroscience to life. Compulsively readable, wicked scientific fun.”
—Kirkus

“Reading this collection is like touring a museum of neuroscience’s most dramatic anomalies, each chapter taking us to a different place and time…. Kean’s colloquial language and intimate voice bring all of this series of mini-histories to life — all of which are sure to stimulate a wide range of brains.”
—Publishers Weekly

“To pick up one of these stories is to lose oneself in them. Where does the brain end and the mind begin? Curious readers will find both brain and mind fully revved up while engaging with this powerfully appealing and thought-provoking work of neuroscience history.”
—Donna Chavez, Booklist

“Strokes, seizures, accidents: if they don’t kill, they can traumatize the brain so badly that an individual’s personality can be significantly changed. But, explains New York Times best-selling author of the terrific The Violinist’s Thumb, early neuroscientists saw such traumas as an opportunity to study the brain’s wondrous workings.”
—Library Journal, “Barbara’s Picks”

“Beyond paying tribute to the scientific advances these patients made possible, Kean humanizes the patients themselves.”
—Scientific American

“After tackling DNA and the periodic table in his previous books, Kean has moved on to the human brain, which he dissects via dozens of vivid anecdotes…. His subtle meta touches are a heady delight.”
—Joe McGovern, Entertainment Weekly