The Shaking Woman, or A History of My Nerves Book Cover

The Shaking Woman, or A History of My Nerves


A work of Non-fiction


Subgenres:

  • Memoir,
  • Medical Memoir,
  • Popular Science
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This book is for you if you're into...

  • Memoirs that blend personal medical mystery with neuroscience deep dives
  • Philosophical explorations of self, memory, and the mind-body connection
Publisher Description

The author delves into the mysteries of her own neurological condition in a far-ranging memoir. While speaking at a memorial event for her father in 2006, novelist Siri Hustvedt suffered a violent seizure from the neck down. Despite her flapping arms and shaking legs, she continued to speak clearly and was able to finish her speech. It was as if she had suddenly become two people: a calm orator and a shuddering wreck. Then the seizures happened again and again.

The Shaking Woman or A History of My Nerves tracks Hustvedt's search for a diagnosis, one that takes her inside the thought processes of several scientific disciplines, each one of which offers a distinct perspective on her paroxysms but no ready solution. In the process, she finds herself entangled in fundamental questions: What is the relationship between brain and mind? How do we remember? What is the self?

In The Shaking Woman, Hustvedt synthesizes her experience and research into a compelling mystery: Who is the shaking woman?

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