Interview with Suzanne O'Sullivan, author of The Sleeping Beauties: And Other Stories of Mystery Illness
Suzanne O'Sullivan, author of The Sleeping Beauties: And Other Stories of Mystery Illness recommends some lovely books! Before jumping into the interview, please check out Suzanne's book:
Review from Book Depository:
In Sweden, refugee children fall asleep for months and years at a time. In upstate New York, high school students develop contagious seizures. In the US Embassy in Cuba, employees complain of headaches and memory loss after hearing strange noises in the night.
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The Sleeping Beauties: And Other Stories of Mystery Illness
These disparate cases are some of the most remarkable diagnostic mysteries of the twenty-first century, as both doctors and scientists have struggled to explain them within the boundaries of medical science and - more crucially - to treat them. What unites them is that they are all examples of a particular type of psychosomatic illness: medical disorders that are influenced as much by the idiosyncratic aspects of individual cultures as they are by human biology.
Inspired by a poignant encounter with the sleeping refugee children of Sweden, Wellcome Prize-winning neurologist Suzanne O'Sullivan travels the world to visit other communities who have also been subject to outbreaks of so-called 'mystery' illnesses.
From a derelict post-Soviet mining town in Kazakhstan, to the Mosquito Coast of Nicaragua via an oil town in Texas, to the heart of the Maria Mountains in Colombia, O'Sullivan hears remarkable stories from a fascinating array of people, and attempts to unravel their complex meaning while asking the question: who gets to define what is and what isn't an illness?
Reminiscent of the work of Oliver Sacks, Stephen Grosz and Henry Marsh, The Sleeping Beauties is a moving and unforgettable scientific investigation with a very human face.
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Easons €14.00
Book Depository €10.43
Waterstones £9.49
Wordery $12.99
Q. Do you have a favourite smart thinking book (and why that book)?
My favourite smart thinking book is Into the Silent Land - travels in neuropsychology by Paul Broks. For me books shouldn't just impart knowledge, they should also be beautifully written. This book is science, philosophy, humanity and poetry.
Review From Book Depository:
Into the Silent Land marks the debut of an astonishing new voice. Paul Broks draws on his many years as a neuropsychologist to present an unforgettable narrative about memory and personal identity. Into the Silent Land describes ordinary people whose extraordinary situations have much to teach us about chance, compassion and human resilience in the face of adversity.
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Into the Silent Land: Travels in Neuropsychology
It is a book that penetrates the reader's imagination and lingers in the memory long after the final page.
Buy On:
Book Depository €11.89
Waterstones £12.99
Wordery $14.74
Q. What's the most recent smart thinking book you've read (and how would you rate it)?
My most recent smart thinking book was the wonderfully named, The Book of Difficult Fruit, arguments for the tart, tender and unruly. On the surface it is an A-Z of wonderful, weird fruit facts, but underneath it is a story of a life, filled with wise observations.
Review From Book Depository:
Inspired by twenty-six fruits, essayist, poet and pie lady Kate Lebo expertly blends the culinary, medical and personal.
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The Book of Difficult Fruit: Arguments for the Tart, Tender, and Unruly
A is for Aronia, berry member of the apple family, clothes-stainer, superfruit with reputed healing power. D is for Durian, endowed with a dramatic rind and a shifty odour - peaches, old garlic. M is for Medlar, name-checked by Shakespeare for its crude shape, beloved by gardeners for its flowers. Q is for Quince, which, fresh, gives off the scent of 'roses and citrus and rich women's perfume' but if eaten raw is so astringent it wicks the juice from one's mouth.
In this work of unique invention, these and other difficult fruits serve as the central ingredients of twenty-six lyrical essays (and recipes!) that range from deeply personal to botanical, from culinary to medical, from humorous to philosophical. The entries are associative, often poetic, taking unexpected turns and giving sideways insights into life, relationships, self-care, modern medicine and more. What if the primary way you show love is to bake, but your partner suffers from celiac disease? Why leave in the pits for Willa Cather's Plum Jam? How can we rely on bodies as fragile as the fruits that nourish them?
Lebo's unquenchable curiosity leads us to intimate, sensuous, enlightening contemplations. The Book of Difficult Fruit is the very best of food writing: graceful, surprising and ecstatic.
Includes black and white illustrations.
Buy On:
Book Depository €12.96
Waterstones £9.99
Wordery $11.99
Q. Do you have a favourite childhood book?
I was a voracious reader from a young age, but the book that sticks in my mind most from that time is The Flight of the Doves by Walter Mackey. I read it in a single day because it was such a page turner. In my memory it is closely linked to the moment I realised how much joy there was to be had in books.
Review From Book Depository:
Desperate to escape their vicious uncle in London, orphans Finn and Derval Dove embark on a dangerous journey across England to Ireland. Lonely and scared, their only hope lies in reaching the Connemara cottage of their beloved grandmother.
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Flight of the Doves
But for some reason their uncle offers a reward for their return and suddenly Finn and Derval find themselves at the centre of a nationwide search. Dogged every step of the way by people they don't know, who can the children trust...and how far will their uncle go to stop them reaching safety?
Buy On:
Book Depository €8.33
Waterstones £6.99
Q. Do you prefer reading on paper, Kindle or listening to an audiobook?
I very much prefer paper books - especially hardbacks. However, I will not hear a word against the kindle which I also love. My kindle allows me travel with a whole library in a very small handbag.
Q. Do you have a favourite bookshop (and why that shop)?
I spent so much time during my teen years in the bookshops of Dublin that they will ever be central in my heart. Hodges Figgis on Dawson street is a behemoth that has any book one could desire. I also love that it has such a wonderful selection of Irish authors. But, for a romantic-feeling bookshop, The Winding Stair stands out. It is as tall and narrow as the name suggests and also serves amazing food!
Many thanks to Suzanne for recommending some lovely books! Please don't forget to check out Suzanne's book The Sleeping Beauties: And Other Stories of Mystery Illness.
Daryl
Image Copyrights: Pan Macmillan (The Sleeping Beauties, The Book of Difficult Fruit, Flight of the Doves), Atlantic Books (Into The Silent Land)
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