The Awakenings, now a classic book that inspired a film, was adapted for theater and radio and became the subject of many television documentaries, is the shocking account of the condition of a group of twenty patients who became catatonic due to the epidemic of hypnosis that swept the world immediately after World War I. All twenty patients spent forty years in hospitals and institutions, motionless and mute. And while they were not lacking an awareness of the world around them, they showed no interest in what was happening to it. Until Dr. Sachs administered the then-new drug L-DOPA in 1969, which temporarily brought them out of their decades-long lethargy.

The author recounts the touching stories of these patients and their astonishing transformation thanks to the treatment. The book, which W.H. AUDEN called a "masterpiece," is a passionate examination of broader themes related to health, illness, pain, care, and the human condition.

“Awakenings arose from the very deep connection I had as a doctor and a human being, the deepest I have ever experienced, with the patients I encountered and lived with, at the Bronx hospital, some of whom were immobilized, motionless, in a kind of ecstasy, for decades. Migraine was still in the medical canon, but in the book, I broke free in all directions – into allegory, philosophy, poetry...” – OLIVER SACKS

Awakenings was first published in 1973. In 1990, revised editions were released, with new texts for their theatrical adaptations, such as the play that inspired Harold Pinter, A Kind of Alaska, and for the film Awakenings, starring Robert De Niro and Robin Williams.

“Experiences so strange that we can hardly grasp them with our minds are not just journeys in the Amazon or to the Moon; they also occur within the confines of the human brain... This long sleep and the sudden awakening to a strange new world... although it seems so foreign, it has an immediate power that haunts the imagination. It is not an exaggeration to say that through this book we live with the dead, who have come back before us from the past... The book is an excellent blend of clinical observation and deep understanding of the precarious condition of these people... One feels while reading it that the author passionately wants to share his discoveries, with all the power of his mind, knowledge, and deep compassion – so that we can all ultimately “awaken.” – RICHARD GREGORY, The Listener

“It is not just a collection of remarkable patient cases. Awakenings is also an essay of ethics, both autobiographical and novelistic. It is a genius work.” – Washington Post

“It reminds us that our lives are always on the razor's edge.” – DORIS LESSING

This medical report is written in prose of such beauty that we search in vain for anything comparable among the living practitioners of literary writing.” – FRANK KERMODE