FIFTY SHADES OF GRAY MATTER

Gondolo reflects on notable medical cases and the extraordinary eccentricities of the brain in this memoir.

After being trained in her native Italy, the author practiced as a neurologist in New York City for many years and encountered an expansive range of fascinating cases. In one quirky episode, an elderly Italian man complained of leg pain as inexplicable as it was insufferable; the author was able to ascertain that his symptoms were the result of an excessive use of denture cream. In another case, every time a woman had her hair washed at the salon, “a sudden wave of dizziness, malaise, and lightheadedness overcame her,” and she felt as if she was dying. It turned out she suffered from a vertebral artery dissection, an arterial tear caused by an extension of the neck during shampooing that ultimately blocked the flow of blood to the brain. With impressive lucidity and the authorial confidence of an expert, Gondolo details more than three dozen such instances, which fascinatingly illustrate the delicate connection between the brain and human experience and behavior. The author candidly weaves in personal stories as well—she recalls a peer of hers in medical school in Italy who, unable to make peace with his sexuality in a religiously conservative environment, began to hear condemnations of his sexual identity bellow from the television. The stories run the gamut from the tragic to the near farcical—Gondola displays a gimlet eye for the captivating peculiarities and curiosities of human life. The reader can’t help but admire her philosophical openness; she reflects deeply, without a hint of scientific dogmatism, on the possibility that a malignant tumor could be healed by prayer: “Do miracles occur in medicine, or are they simply the result of a mistaken diagnosis?” It is to the author’s credit that she doesn’t feel compelled to settle that issue. This is a remarkable memoir—scientifically rigorous while intellectually unpretentious, as engaging as it is edifying. The reader will be both educated and entertained.

An enjoyably instructive tour of neurological adventures.