About Face [Hardcover]

Jonathan Cole (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0262032465 | ISBN-13: 978-0262032469 | Publication Date: January 1998

What is special about the face, and what happens when neurological conditions make expression of comprehension of the face unavailable? Through a mix of science, autobiography, case studies, and speculation, Jonathan Cole shows the importance not only of facial expressions for communication among individuals but also of facial embodiment for our sense of self. He presents, in his words, "a natural history of the face and an unnatural history of those who live without it". Drawing on work in neurology, human development, anthropology, philosophy, and the arts, the book moves from the biological evolution of the face, through the mechanics of expressionism and perception, to research on the importance of the face in the development of emotion and communication. The heart of the book, though, lies in the experience of people with facial losses of various kinds. The case studies are of blind, autistic, and neurologically impaired persons; the most extreme case involves Mobius syndrome, in which some individuals are born with a total inability to move their muscles and hence to make facial expressions. Cole suggests that it is only by studying such personal narratives of loss that we can understand facial function and something of what all our faces reflect. As the author advances his natural history and theory of the face, he reveals something of our nature and how it is defined, in part, by the face.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

British neurophysiologist Cole has produced a fascinating but difficult-to-categorize book about the importance of the face and facial expression to the development of personality and character. Largely through interviews with those who are blind, autistic, or suffer from various neurological disorders that limit facial expression, Cole considers just how much of ourselves is contained in our faces. Less personable and quirky than Oliver Sacks's books and less personal than the work of doctor-writers like Lewis Thomas or Richard Selzer, this is nonetheless a very interesting title that will likely appeal to a wide audience?lay readers, specialists in the neurosciences and psychological fields, and scholars who contemplate the origins of the self. Recommended for general collections with literate readership, as well as academic collections.?Mark L. Shelton, Univ. of Massachusetts Medical Ctr., Worcester
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

A physician's curiosity leads him to a subject oddly underexplored in its own right: the face. British neurophysiologist Cole pursues the link between our faces and our inner selves in a science-minded inquiry that is very much a natural history rather than a cultural one. But it's not strictly scientific, either: Cole's topic lies among questions just out of the confident grasp of science--the nature and relationship of mind and body, of thoughts and feelings, the definition of consciousness itself. Given that, Cole assembles persuasive speculations from his journalistic research among people who either can't perceive facial expressions or can't make them as a result of blindness, autism, disfigurement, or face-impairing M”bius syndrome, Bell's palsy, and Parkinson's disease. Despite the variety of conditions described in these uniformly heartfelt interviews, his conclusions from them are largely similar: that facial expression exists somewhere pivotal between the mental and the physical, that the face, beyond simply expressing interior states, actually affects the emotional life through its importance in relating to others. The chapters on autistic subjects--for whom the disctinctions between self and others, body and mind and emotion, are strangely ruptured--are powerfully suggestive of the complexity of the face's meaning; but relying heavily, in brief encounters, on the ad hoc personal vocabulary used by subjects to try to explain their experiences, this study remains little more than suggestive. But that's only to say that Cole has initiated an ambitious synthesis, putting the face at the center of various disciplines that touch on it--neurological, psychiatric, evolutionary (he surmises that faces function emotionally in primates' individual relationships as well as humans') that may be taken up by such specialists in response to his impressions. A genial peek--in the mirror, as it were--at the mystery of the self. (13 illustrations, not seen) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 223 pages
• Publisher: Mit Pr (January 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262032465
• ISBN-13: 978-0262032469
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,452,508 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From one with Moebius syndrome, August 18, 1999

By 

Sandy (Los Angeles area) - See all my reviews

This review is from: About Face (Paperback)

Jonathan Coles is perhaps the first writer to set into words many of the thoughts that I, and others affected with Moebius syndrome have considered for an eternity - how do we describe a purely physical condition that has intensely emotional consequences?

I found myself underlining and starring a variety of points from his book that simply rang true with my own thoughts and experiences. Having grown up during a time when people felt things were best handled when "ignored" (and thus, NOT 'handled' - only "stuffed") I appreciated reading of Coles' observations - they made my own memories and perceptions have a slight more ring of authenticity to them.

I would hope that, at some later date, those of us affected with Moebius ("Moebians" as we call ourselves!) would collaborate jointly on an additional literary project - that of sharing our own thoughts as we experience life without a smile. Anyone who thinks we all lead lives of reclusive solitude would be in for a huge surprise. Our greatest challenge seems to not be that which society percieves, the sad state of not having a smile, but rather the limitations others impose upon us by virtue of what they see and perceive. ('he's not smiling - he must be (1) disinterested, (2) dull, (3) stupid (4) uncaring ..., etc.)' Believe me, THAT kind of assumption is as example of the true burdens we must face on a regular basis - the mistaken notions that strangers have when ignorance and prejudice governs how they interact with people they don't know.

You'll never find another book "out there" that deals with facial expression like this one does - I've looked!

After saying this all, I can also say that I DON'T HAVE A BIG MOUTH!!!!!!!!!!!!! And... I can say THAT with a straight face! :):)