Book review: The Shaking Woman

A friend lent me this book to read because she knows I'm interested in neurological stuff. The premise is simple: the author was giving a speech at her father's memorial service and she began to shake, uncontrollably. She didn't know why, but she wanted to know why, so she did some searching out about possible causes and reasons.

The result is this book, a history of neurological theories and stories as to why stuff happens, and what people think about it. It's incredibly intriguing but boy, you have to have a brain to read it because it's complicated. The fact that it's beautifully written makes it a pleasure read rather than a textbook, but I do notice the fact that I'm not as sharp as I think I used to be. I understand what I'm reading while I read it, but I'm hard pressed to repeat it back to anyone else.

On another note, I do love this cover and physically, the book is a pleasure to hold.

In the end, Hustvedt couldn't find a reason for her shaking, so, as with many things in the area of brain study, the jury is out and it's still a mystery. But she came out of it with a great book, so perhaps it's not such a bad thing?