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Dr Guy Leschziner
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The Man Who Tasted Words: A Neurologist Explores the Strange and Startling World of Our Senses Hardcover – February 22, 2022

by Dr. Guy Leschziner (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 138 ratings
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In The Man Who Tasted Words, Guy Leschziner leads readers through the senses and how, through them, our brain understands or misunderstands the world around us.

Vision, hearing, taste, smell, and touch are what we rely on to perceive the reality of our world. Our senses are the conduits that bring us the scent of a freshly brewed cup of coffee or the notes of a favorite song suddenly playing on the radio. But are they really that reliable? The Man Who Tasted Words shows that what we perceive to be absolute truths of the world around us is actually a complex internal reconstruction by our minds and nervous systems. The translation into experiences with conscious meaning―the pattern of light and dark on the retina that is transformed into the face of a loved one, for instance―is a process that is invisible, undetected by ourselves and, in most cases, completely out of our control.

In The Man Who Tasted Words, neurologist Guy Leschziner explores how our nervous systems define our worlds and how we can, in fact, be victims of falsehoods perpetrated by our own brains. In his moving and lyrical chronicles of lives turned upside down by a disruption in one or more of their five senses, he introduces readers to extraordinary individuals, like one man who actually “tasted” words, and shows us how sensory disruptions like that have played havoc, not only with their view of the world, but with their relationships as well. The cases Leschziner shares in The Man Who Tasted Words are extreme, but they are also human, and teach us how our lives and what we perceive as reality are both ultimately defined by the complexities of our nervous systems.

Previous page
  1. Print length
    336 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    St. Martin's Press
  4. Publication date
    February 22, 2022
  5. Dimensions
    6.48 x 1.21 x 9.55 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    125027236X
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1250272362
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"In vivid stories of patient maladies that affect our very human sensations of sight, sound, smell, touch and pain, Leschziner has deeply explored the sensory experiences that bombard every moment of our lives but of which we are barely aware. What a terrific melding of brain science with thoughtful ideas on our window to the outside world."
―Allan Ropper, M.D., author of Reaching Down the Rabbit Hole and How the Brain Lost Its Mind

"A truly astonishing book―from the story of the man who tasted words to that of Paul who could pull out his own teeth and break his legs yet feel no pain. These are beautifully and engagingly written stories of how our senses tell us about the reality of the world―or, sometimes, don’t."
―Gavin Esler, author of How Britain Ends

 "If we have all our senses intact, we see, taste, hear, touch, and smell every day and probably think little about the complex systems that make it all possible and the many things science still ignores about those processes. This book changes that and forces readers to question the "reality" they have created, and that makes it the kind of book that has a lasting impact."
―NPR.org

"A fascinating deep dive into the functions and malfunctions of the five senses . . . packed with insights."
―Publishers Weekly

"Vibrant with personality and full of wonder. Prof. Leschziner takes us through an exploration of our senses, making us question the nature of our reality and how we interpret the world around us. It is a profound, entertaining and quite exceptional book.”
―Dr. Alastair Santhouse, psychiatrist and author of Head First

"Stories of people who experience the world differently show us what it means to be human. This is a deeply moving and powerful book, full of provocative ideas about human perception and the way we construct reality."
―Daniel M. Davis, author of The Secret Body and The Beautiful Cure

"From the opening paragraph, I was spellbound, entranced. Through real stories about what happens when our fragile perception of the world around us and within us is severed, Guy Leschziner connects us back to our senses.”
―Professor Alice Roberts, broadcaster, author, anatomist and anthropologist

"An important, fascinating and disturbing book. Words will never taste the same again!"
―John Humphrys, journalist and broadcaster

About the Author

DR. GUY LESCHZINER is the author of The Nocturnal Brain, as well as a professor of neurology and sleep medicine in London. He sees patients with a range of neurological and sleep disorders, and is actively involved in research and teaching. He has also presented series on sleep and neurology for BBC World Service and Radio 4.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ St. Martin's Press (February 22, 2022)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 125027236X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250272362
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.1 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.48 x 1.21 x 9.55 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 138 ratings

About the author

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Dr Guy Leschziner

Dr Guy Leschziner

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Prof Guy Leschziner is a neurologist at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals in London, and professor of neurology and sleep medicine at King’s College London. Alongside his clinical work, he is the presenter of the "Mysteries of Sleep", "The Senses", and "Phantoms in the Brain" series on BBC Radio 4 and World Service, is editor of the Oxford Specialist Handbook of Sleep Medicine, and is Neurology Section editor for Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine. He is the author of "The Nocturnal Brain: Nightmares, Neuroscience and the Secret World of Sleep" and "The Man Who Tasted Words".

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
138 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Sigi
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating read
Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2023
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The question of " what is reality" and how we perceive it is interestingly discussed in this book. Despite the heavy subject, it is easy to read and narrated with compassion and understanding.
For anyone wanting to explore how our senses portray the world and what happens when they don't behave in a usual manner, this is the book to discover a fascinating and sometimes frightening world.
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JReppy
4.0 out of 5 stars fascinating read
Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2023
"The Man Who Tasted Words" was a fascinating book. I had a basic familiarity with a number of the neurological abnormalities discussed in the book, but the author provided a lot of information about how these abnormalities manifest that was new to me. Early in the book, the author states which of the five senses are most significant to him and would be the hardest to cope with if these senses were lost or damaged. Not surprisingly, he listed taste and smell as the least important, relatively speaking. That is what I would say if asked, and what I believe the majority of people would say if asked, finding sight, hearing, and touch to be more important. However, the author later discusses various problems that can deprive a person of smell or taste or alter their sense of smell or taste, and explains, using the personal experience of some of his patients (with their permission), how significant and life-altering the inability to smell or taste, or the loss later in life of the ability to smell or taste can be. These chapters will cause the reader to rethink their views on taste and smell. The best part of the book is the personal stories, as the author explains what symptoms or difficulties brought patients to see him, how they developed or discovered the alteration or absence of a particular sense(s) and how this impacted their lives, and what was done to address the problem, sometimes successfully and sometimes unsuccessfully.
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inky pinky
5.0 out of 5 stars compelling reading.
Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2022
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This book is much more than the man who tasted words. Dr. Leschziner synthesizes his ringside view of the human condition from the vantage point of a neurologist and provides deep insights into our collective experiences. Between Sacks, Ramachandran, and this brilliant book, you can arrive at a very rich understanding of our species. Invest the time and read this cover to cover. You will be richly rewarded. If nothing else read the epilogue. You will still get your money’s worth.
6 people found this helpful
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Donna Stravinski
5.0 out of 5 stars Well written and informative
Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2022
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The author is skilled at making complex information accessible, but not dumbed-down. Engaging and very well written.
3 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Understanding your mind
Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2022
A very good book for those that want to know more about how we experience the world but still simply enough for those with out a degree
4 people found this helpful
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Matt Kelland
5.0 out of 5 stars Easy to read, always entertaining, and packed with valuable information
Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2022
A superb book for anyone who’s interested in how our brains work and how this affects our perception of reality. We’re taught that there’s a real world out there, and our five senses feed information to the brain that tells us what it is. Turns out, that’s all wrong. For a start, there are a lot more than five senses. Second, the senses feed a tiny fraction of the available information to the brain, and the brain just kind of guesses at the rest. And third, the brain doesn’t just passively accept information, it feeds back predictions to the senses on what it expects to see. (And, perhaps most fascinating of all, it calls into question whether there even is such a thing as objective reality - who’s to say one brain’s model of the world is more or less accurate than somebody else’s, or whether they’re actually the same?)

This has some important implications. When the sensory system is damaged, either by genetic mutation, physical injury, neurochemical imbalance, or whatever, the information it sends can be inaccurate, incomplete, or unreliable. So the brain fills in the rest, based on faulty data. And sometimes, it gets it very, very wrong. So you get people whose senses are completely mixed up - they perceive tastes or colors associated with vision or sound (synesthesia), or they can’t perceive objects in part of their field of view but they can tell if they’re moving. If you’ve read The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat, you’ll be familiar with this kind of thing.

Leschziner, a consultant neurologist in London, digs into dozens of case histories to illustrate how different people perceive the world differently. His style is very easy to read, and always entertaining, but packed with valuable information.

Highly recommended.

(Note: I received a free pre-release copy from the publisher.)
10 people found this helpful
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kathleen g
5.0 out of 5 stars fascinating
Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2022
This is an accessible and highly readable book about, well, the five senses and what happens when one of them (or more) is compromised. The anecdotes to support the arguments Leschziner presents make this shine and kept me turning the pages. Synethesia might be familiar but imagine developing gruesome hallucinations after losing your sight. Fascinating stuff well presented. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. An illuminating and educational read.
6 people found this helpful
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Susan
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating look at unusual neurological diseases
Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2022
Unique and fascinating glimpse into our senses. The author is a neurologist who walks the reader through some unusual cases and explains their unique diagnoses. He presents his patients as people, not just cases, drawing the reader into their lives to see how their ailments affect their everyday lives. While I’m glad not to need Dr. Leschziner’s specialized services, I wish I could find doctors as caring and determined as he seems to be. Very readable book, even for those with little medical expertise. #TheManWhoTastedWords #NetGalley
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Daniel Marc Reicher
3.0 out of 5 stars A memoir by a neurologist
Reviewed in Canada on November 1, 2023
Verified Purchase
A good description of what a neurologist experienced in his UK clinic. Not as good as Oliver Sacks book the man who mistook his wife for a hat, but still worth reading.

He describes in great detail what happens when something goes wrong with one of our senses.
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Amazonian Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and very readable
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 15, 2024
Verified Purchase
The Man Who Tasted Words is a fascinating look at our senses, how they work, and what happens when they don't. By examining some extraordinary real life cases, Professor Leschziner explains how our brains model the world around us based on the input from our senses.

"I will introduce you to a range of individuals whose senses have been altered or changed in some way, imbued with a diminishment or amplification of their perception of a particular aspect of their world; whose version of reality is shaped by their senses in unusual and often dramatic ways. For some, their condition has been present from birth; for others, it was acquired in later life. For many, their experience is deemed a ‘disease’ or ‘disorder’, but there are other persons who sit within the spectrum of normality for humanity, despite the almost implausible world they inhabit."

It's a very readable and illuminating science book, with the complex biological and neurological concepts explained clearly. The interviews with people who have various types of sensory disruption, often very debilitating, are moving and insightful. So generous and brave of them to bare their souls for the benefit of our understanding. Scientific knowledge of our perception of reality has moved on leaps and bounds in the last few years, and it makes for a captivating read.
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C.C. James
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb trip into the otherness of our senses
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 4, 2023
Verified Purchase
Patiently written and heartfelt. A neuroscientist takes through the humanised notes of a range of patients suffering and occasionally enjoying some of the weird quirks our minds can come up with.

The epilogue alone is worth a read, as someone who gets to sit more on the enjoyment side of sensory oddities, at random, it’s a beautiful articulation of a world I’ve never tried to explain.
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