THE MAN WHO WASN’T THERE: Tales from the Edge of the Self
Ananthaswamy explores the minds of individuals suffering from a variety of complex neuropsychological conditions through emotionally layered and in-depth interviews. The book follows Ananthaswamy as he accompanies a body integrity identity disorder (BIID) sufferer to Asia for an amputation, sits in the living room of a couple battling with the daily heartbreak of Alzheimer’s, stands with a woman with schizophrenia at the same spot where she nearly ended her own life years earlier, visits a man on a farm in France whose epilepsy brought about pleasant seizures, and even attempts to induce an out-of-body illusion in himself to better understand the experience. THE MAN WHO WASN’T THERE made a huge media splash when it came out in hardcover last August, launching with a fascinating conversation between Ananthaswamy and Terry Gross on NPR’s Fresh Air. The book received outstanding coverage in Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, People, Entertainment Weekly , Nature, Popul...