Toscanini's Fumble and Other Tales of Clinical Neurology

by Harold Klawans

Toscanini's Fumble and Other Tales of Clinical Harold L. Toscanini's Fumble and Other Tales of Clinical Bantam FIRST First Edition Thus, First Printing. Not price-clipped. Published by Bantam Book, 1989. Octavo. Paperback. Book is like new. 100% positive feedback. 30 day money back guarantee. NEXT DAY SHIPPING! Excellent customer service. Please email with any questions. All books packed carefully and ship with free delivery confirmation/tracking. All books come with free bookmarks. Ships from Sag Harbor, New York.Seller 316267 Science & Nature We Buy Books! Collections - Libraries - Estates - Individual Titles. Message us if you have books to sell!

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Medicine, Medical, Biology, Neuroscience, Psychology

229 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Harold L. Klawans was an academic neurologist who launched a parallel career as a writer. Klawans was born in Chicago. After graduating with an M.D. degree from the University of Illinois in 1962, Dr. Klawans became a neurologist and professor of neurology and pharmacology at Rush Medical College.

Reviews

[U · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and entertaining book about neurologist Harold Klawans’ recollections of meeting patients, discussing their health, and other aspects of living like a neurologist. The most memorable story, by far, was the one where he himself seemed to be ‘paralyzed’ and was unable to move while listening to music once awakening from a nap. He shares his own thoughts and what it’s like to see everyday life (and rare situations) with someone of his medical knowledge. In the end, of course, he is fine. All the stories shared were worth reading. The other recollections are also quite entertaining, ex- drawing parallels between Toscanini’s symptoms and his medical condition, teaching readers about neurology when he was at one point teaching residents and a blue collar worker on why his pain exists and how it came to be. In essence, this book is stories of Klawans’ career, with specks of neurological and general medical information splattered in there as well.

[Velvetink · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of amazing case histories of patients with baffling symptoms andbehaviors that occur when something goes wrong with the complex interworkings of the brain and nervous system. A neurologist recounts some of his most extraordinary cases and reflects on how recent developments in neurology are shedding new light on the behaviour disorders of people in the past - what happened when Toscanini lost control of his orchestra? Did Mao Tse Tung have Parkinson's Disease? and don't eat chickling peas.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Technically, this is a reread because I read this book years ago. More years than I care to remember. It was a life-changer then. One chapter referred to a condition I'd experienced. Another enabled the diagnosis of a rare condition from which my father-in-law was suffering. The rest were just plain fascinating.
I'd borrowed the book from the library, but was sufficiently impressed to have amazon track down an out of print copy for me.
It was this copy that I've just read again. This time I was prompted by a friend with mysterious symptoms. Would the answer lie in these amazing tales of Clinical Neurology? Sadly, no. I'll reread the sequel 'Newton's Madness' in hopes that some light may yet be shed. Meantime, I've revisited some wonderfully described case histories that are potential fodder for my writings, and even if not used have been just as interesting second time around.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though published in 1988, this series of short pieces on various neurological conditions does not feel dated. Dr. Klawans uses diseases and brain injuries to explain how our brains work. His entertaining descriptions of the people affected brings home the real life impact of damage to a brain or nervous system.

[Burning Thoughts · Rating 4 out of 5]

An expert diagnostician relates stories of patients with observable disorders, from fitful moving of the body to loss of music ability, and explains the neurological processes that explain the problems. He has the lucid style of a natural teacher.

I didn't give it 5 stars, because the ideas developed from unhappy circumstances. There also was a problem with the production of the Contemporary Books edition 9. There were some pages out of order. P. 119 was followed by p. 124. A light shuffling lasted until p. 136. I suspect that a 16 page large sheet was folded incorrectly. It may be that way in other copies of this edition.

[Zachary Uhlig · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a humble collection of case studies with patients displaying interesting, if not baffling, neurological symptoms. Dr Klawans writes in a manner to explain away the very complicated inner workings of the brain with ease. Personal and often entertaining, Klawans' story-telling is well worth the quick read even if there is a slight tendency to ramble. Though written in the latter part of the '80s, the stories themselves doesn't feel quite that dated, apart from the baseball references. Maybe that says more about the state of medical research than anything else though.

[Allyson Dyar · Rating 5 out of 5]

A native Chicagoan, life-long White Sox fan (both play a large part in his writings) was a neurologist specializing in movement disorders, specifically Parkinson ’s disease. He is also the author of several books on his work as a neurologist as well as several novels (none of which I have read but may in the future).

Specifically, this review will focus on four of his books, two I re-read, one I was about to re-read (but opted to spend my time reading Doc Savage fanfic ranging from downright putrid to ‘you really need an editor, son’) to the last that I don’t think I’ll re-read because I didn’t think it was great to begin with.

First, I’ll start with the two books that introduced me to Dr. Klawans: Toscanini’s Fumble: And Other Tales of Clinical Neurology and Newton’s Madness: Further Tales of Clinical Neurology. Both of these books are short narratives spanning personal stories about his patients, specific conditions or historical perspective on neurology. They are very well-written and are an “easy” read. I would totally recommend these two books for anyone interested in medical narratives.

[Tucker · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of stories from a neurologist's practice that made him ask questions of many kinds, neurological and bioethical and human interest. The stories are more than vignettes--the medical context is researched and explained to the reader. It seems that people with medical training would be more likely to experience this more fully as the author intended, particularly with the "what it feels like to be a doctor" angle, which was partly lost on me. Also, since it was published in 1988, some information might be outdated. The stories that most interested me involved L-dopa as a treatment for Parkinson's disease; it can cause side effects of hallucinations and paranoia.

[Bj Hoover · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter has been quoting Dr. Klawans to me for years, and I am finally reading her collection of books by him. What a treasure this book is! It reads like a series of medical mysteries, and kept me intrigued all the way through. It was written in 1988 and refers to his patients during the 70's, and gives such insight into neurological processes at that time. I am anxious to read further books and understand more about the workings of the brain. What a brilliant writer.

[Rae · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn't impressed by the story telling - which is odd since the author also writes novels - but many of the "essays' had sudden endings that were very jarring, dwelt on what felt like the wrong topic and so overall, while interesting neurological situations existed, I was unimpressed.

[Jeff Wong · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating look at diagnostic puzzles in neurology. It's a little dated due to the way the scientific understanding of neurology has progressed but, aside from that, an informative and entertaining read.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love it when neurologists share their fascinating case studies with us laymen. if you like oliver sacks, you'll like this guy.

[Kerri · Rating 5 out of 5]

love anything by Dr. Klawans.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this. I'm well into anything medical and this book discussed many patient's problems. Just how many forms of neck-ache can you get, and just as many causes.
Brilliant.

[Roberta Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a marvelous book. Fascinating anecdotes about patients with neurological problems. It's why I always remember trigeminal neuralgia.

[Pam Baddeley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A re-read of an interesting medical study of neurological conditions, written in a easy to understand style for the general reader.