The best-selling author of Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Oliver Sacks is well know as an explorer of the human mind--a neurologist with a gift for complex, insightful portrayals of people and their conditions. However, he is also a card-carrying member of the American Fern Society, and since childhood has been fascinated by these primitive plants and their ability to survive and adapt in many climates.
Oaxaca Journal is Sacks's spellbinding account of his trip with a group of fellow fern enthusiasts to the beautiful, history-steeped province of Oaxaca, Mexico. Bringing together Sacks's passion for natural history and the richness of human culture with his sharp eye for detail, Oaxaca Journal is a captivating evocation of a place, its plants, its people, and its myriad wonders.

Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

The Journal of a Journey:

This book has its own special charm. World- renowned psychologist and author Oliver Sacks takes a trip with members of the American Fern Society. He is an amateur here, but cannot conceal his respect for his fellow travelers, and his joy at being with them in the Mexican province of Oaxaca. Sacks describes his own childhood fascination with the work of Naturalists, and gives portraits of those avid students of specific botanical forms, those lovers of the smallest details of the natural world. For me... more info

Ferns, ferns, ferns...:

I am a huge fan of Oliver Sack's writing. He brought so much interest, knowledge and "wow" to case writing and now, he is bringing it to ferns and travel writing. To tell you the truth, I would never have picked up a book about ferns and would have hated it if someone was so bold as to give me one as a present, but when I went to the bookstore to browse for some summer reading, I was intrigued to find this book.
What initially got me was the graphic of the ferns on the cover. They reminded me of some... more info

Frank and engaging observations:

Some chapters are a delight to read- a very frank and engaging take by the author on his observations and thoughts. Other chapters seem a tad self-contained and unbalanced, with way too much attention and emphasis given to a particular observation or subject. Given that it's a jouranl though, one reasonably expects that the jottings penned would have a bit of a subjective emphasis and a slightly idiosyncratic feel.

An unedited journal, straight from the heart:

After finishing this book, I am convinced that people who develop a passion for something, be it for career, avocation, or hobby, tend to live longer and are more frequently happy, and when they die, they die happy. I bet Oliver Sacks is one of these lucky people! Never cease to be fascinated--that is one key to happiness, and Sacks proves to us just that. Without question he is a Renaissance man, keen to share with us his enthusiasm for his profession (evident from his excellent prose in "The man who... more info

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