Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Migraine  By  cover art

Migraine

By: Oliver Sacks
Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $33.90

Buy for $33.90

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

The many manifestations of migraine can vary dramatically from one patient to another, even within the same patient at different times. Among the most compelling and perplexing of these symptoms are the strange visual hallucinations and distortions of space, time, and body image that migraineurs sometimes experience. Portrayals of these uncanny states have found their way into many works of art, from the heavenly visions of Hildegard von Bingen to Alice in Wonderland.

Dr. Oliver Sacks argues the migraine cannot be understood simply as an illness, but must be viewed as a complex condition with a unique role to play in each individual's life.

Cover design by Cardon Webb; author photograph © Elena Seibert; cover illustration from The Atlas of Human Anatomy and Surgery (2005 TASCHEN GmbH, Hohenzollernring 53, D-50672 Köln).

©1992 Oliver Sacks (P)2018 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Migraine

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    16
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    16
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    15
  • 4 Stars
    5
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Learning more about myself

I suffer from migraines that can last up to 4 months at a time. I love reading Oliver Sacks because I can tell he knows what he of talking about.

This book is very insightful. I probably have about 50 bookmarks saved for this audiobook. This book is worth its weight in gold.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Still Useful, Though Very Dense at Times

Despite its age, I found the wealth of information (including the numerous case descriptions) in this book useful to better understand and come to terms with my own migraines. It's amazing how much has changed since this was first published, but also how much hasn't. Be warned that Sacks liberally uses medical jargon that will probably not be super familiar for a non-medical reader. There were a couple of chapters that were so incredibly dense with (often antiquated) medical terminology I found them very difficult to absorb, but ironically the following information from the 1990 update regarding the suspected causes of migraine rendered those chapters somewhat obsolete and safely ignored. I'm pleased to have read this book, but very unlikely to re-read it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Insightful

I am a migraine sufferer as well as a physician and this book gave me good insight from both sides. The presentations are so full of compassion and well written.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

The power of suggestion

I have suffered from migraines off and on from the time I was about ten. I thought that this book would be insightful to me, as my migraines include visual auras, but I couldn't get past the second chapter, for fear of inducing a migraine. Do I recommend this book? It's hard to say. Oliver Sacks is a great writer and neurologist (I have read a few of his other books), but this one wasn't for me.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Why is this an audio book?

Migraine is basically a text book about symptoms of migraine. There are a few things that were new and interesting to me, but basically it's a long rambling statement about the endless variety of symptoms that sufferers experience. I'm a huge fan of Oliver Sacks, but this one was fairly disappointing.

Jonathan Davis' narration was excellent.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful