Reaching Down the Rabbit Hole

Dr Allan H. Ropper is a Professor at Harvard Medical School and the Raymond D. Adams Master Clinician at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. He is credited with founding the field of neurological intensive care and counts Michael J. Fox among his patients.Brian Burrell is the author of Postcards from the Brain Museum. He has appeared on the Today Show, Booknotes, and NPR's Morning Edition. He divides his time between writing and statistical research with neuroscientific applications.

Reaching Down the Rabbit Hole tells it like it is on the front line of clinical neurology. Engagingly written, informative, often funny, it also manages to be moving without slipping into the sentimentality that too often infests medical writing... If ever anything goes wrong with my brain, I'd like a doctor like Ropper to help sort me out.

• Introduction: The Queen - What neurologists do 1: Six Improbable Things Before Breakfast - Arrivals, departures, and delays on the ward 2: Like a Hole in the Head - Where baseball and neurology converge in a game-saving, over-the-shoulder catch 3: The State of Confusion - Two characters in search of a neurologist 4: My Man Godfrey - A poor sort of memory that only works backwards 5: What Seems to Be the Problem? - A politically incorrect guide to malingering, shamming, and hysteria 6: Do No Harm - A walking time bomb tests the limits of good sense 7: A Story Is Worth a Thousand Pictures - Nine songs of innocence and experience 8: Endgame - Facing down Lou Gehrig's disease 9: The Examined Life - What it takes to survive a motor-neuron death sentence 10: The Curse of the Werewolf - On the front lines in the battle against Dr. Parkinson's disease 11: For the Want of a Nail - A hard-knock lesson on the way to the morgue 12: The Eyes Have It - When is somebody not dead yet? 13: Boats Against the Current - Based on a true story Epilogue: Epilogue to the 2025 Edition