Cott, a Rolling Stone writer, lost the memory of 15 years of his life (from 1985 to 2000) after receiving electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for severe depression. Forced to rely on the testimony of friends and his own previous writings to build partial accounts of his missing past, Cott offers an autobiographical meditation that is part lament for his loss of identity, part investigation into the ECT debate and part neuroscience journalism. Cott reflects engagingly on our culture's more recent cinematic and literary representations of memory loss and on memory's centrality to the formation of selfhood. In a series of chapters, Cott (The Search for Omm Sety, etc.) quizzes neurobiological experts on the nature of the brain, ECT and memory loss, the devastating effects of Alzheimer's, memory enhancement, false memory syndrome and recent neuroscientific discoveries concerning memory and the brain. Cott also includes dialogues with thinkers versed in Judaism, Sufism and Buddhism, and a specialist on African storytelling, as he learns how each of those traditions approaches the spiritual significance of memory. Impeccably written, informative and well researched, Cott's highly personal account communicates current concepts in neurobiology and ruminates on the philosophical and psychological dimensions of memory loss.
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From Booklist
Between 1998 and 1999, Cott underwent a course of 36 electroshock treatments that eventually caused him to lose his memory of his life from 1985 to 2000. In this incredible book, Cott draws on his own personal experience, research on electroshock treatments, and interviews with 12 individuals known for their work on memory. Part 1 focuses on forgetting--how he lost his memories, the desire to forget traumatic incidents, and the memory-robbing Alzheimer's disease. Part 2 focuses on remembering, including the neurology of memory and false and recovered memories. Cott also explores cultural attitudes from African griots and Jewish traditions as he explores the connections between memory and the soul. Cott talks to Ellen Burstyn about the use of emotional memories in acting methods taught by Konstantin Stanislavsky and with a Tibetan Buddhist on remembrances of past lives. This is a fascinating look at a personal journey of memory and loss as well as the science and ephemera of memory. Vanessa Bush
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