The Lobotomist

A Maverick Medical Genius and His Tragic Quest to Rid the World of Mental Illness

By: Jack El-Hai

Narrated by: Peter Lerman

The Lobotomist explores one of the darkest chapters of American medicine: the desperate attempt to treat the hundreds of thousands of psychiatric patients in need of help during the middle decades of the 20th century. Into this crisis stepped Walter Freeman, MD, who saw a solution in lobotomy, a brain operation intended to reduce the severity of psychotic symptoms. Drawing on Freeman's documents and interviews with Freeman's family, Jack El-Hai takes a penetrating look at the life and work of this complex scientific genius.

©2005 Jack El-Hai (P)2021 Tantor

Great book

Okay this is a disturbing subject, I suspect that's why lower reviews. It's almost like giving 5 stars screams out "I'm in favor of lobotomies". The author did a very good job of describing the subject. He was unbiased and kept it interesting. Narrator was good. Great find !

Very forgiving portrait

Interesting subject but seems to skate over some of the unsavory stories about his failures, ethical lapses, and hubris. I appreciate a nuanced approach to subjects that can be easily cast as a villain, but this bio is bit forgiving in my opinion. It also focuses narrowly on the man and his patients rather than a holistic view that includes the many practitioners he trained and their thousands of patients whose lives had been inexpertly altered because of the procedure Freeman “pioneered” / mass marketed. Don’t regret reading, but feel the neutral tone implies a tacit approval of the doctor and his methods. I actually do suggest reading, but don’t let it be your only source,

Fascinating, horrific, educational.

I pretty much always avoid nonfiction as I find it too boring to grasp and hold my attention. However, this book's tale was too fascinating to ignore. The author did a good job of weaving facts with storytelling. The narrator came off very dry and took a while to get used to. It felt like listening to an episode of How Its Made for hours, but after a while I got used to the narrator's cadence and it didn't bother me as much.

Hmm

This book barely touches on Freeman’s devastating surgical outcomes and failed to mention his Lobotomobile at all. At least I don’t remember it being mentioned by name. It came across as a biography about what a great guy he was.

The author can sugarcoat it all he wants, but Freeman did horrendous irreparable harm to thousands of people, many of them children.