A review by ovvlish
Man Who Tasted Shapes: A Bizarre Med. Mystery Offers REV. Insight Into Emotions & by Richard E. Cytowic

5.0

This is instantly one of my new favorite books. Not only does it address the science behind one of my favorite medical oddities, but Cytowic is a poet. This is one of those precious books that reminds me why I loved biology in school, and why I find the life sciences to be so crucial to my development as a thinking person. Part 1 is what the book advertises, but presented with such compassion, curiousity, and intimacy that it's better than I could have hoped from a synopsis such as is given us. Part 2 has me breathless, because it's like Cytowic reached into my head and my heart and properly articulated how I feel about the ideas of science and religion, and how they are not separate in any of us, and when an individual tries to separate them, they become the real monstrous scientists fiction warned us about, devoid of heart, morals, and humanity. Even better, Cytowic's part 2, which consists of 11 short essays, aligned some common platitudes about emotional wellbeing in such a way that I finally understand how I might make use of them - meditation, accepting what I cannot change, using rational thinking WITH my emotions, not against them. All of this as the result of a career of exploring, discovering, and most importantly, treating those who see things differently like the people they are.

Five stars isn't enough, and it's a damn shame this book is out of print. Cytowic put out a new book recently, which I want to read next.