• The Perpetual Now

  • A Story of Amnesia, Memory, and Love
  • By: Michael Lemonick
  • Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
  • Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (25 ratings)

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The Perpetual Now  By  cover art

The Perpetual Now

By: Michael Lemonick
Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
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Publisher's summary

In the aftermath of a shattering illness, Lonni Sue Johnson lives in a "perpetual now" where she has almost no memories of the past and a nearly complete inability to form new ones. The Perpetual Now is the moving story of this exceptional woman and the groundbreaking revelations about memory, learning, and consciousness her unique case has uncovered.

Lonni Sue Johnson was a renowned artist who regularly produced covers for The New Yorker, a gifted musician, a skilled amateur pilot, and a joyful presence to all who knew her. But in late 2007, she contracted encephalitis. The disease burned through her hippocampus like wildfire, leaving her severely amnesic, living in a present that rarely progresses beyond 10 to 15 minutes.

Remarkably, she still retains much of the intellect and artistic skills from her previous life, but it's not at all clear how closely her consciousness resembles yours or mine. As such, Lonni Sue's story has become part of a much larger scientific narrative - one that is currently challenging traditional wisdom about how human memory and awareness are stored in the brain.

In this probing, compassionate, and illuminating book, award-winning science journalist Michael D. Lemonick uses the unique drama of Lonni Sue Johnson's day-to-day life to give us a nuanced and intimate understanding of the science that lies at the very heart of human nature.

©2017 Michael Lemonick (P)2017 Random House Audio

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  • KK
  • 07-13-17

they author deviates too much.

This is such an interesting subject, but somehow the author deviates from the main story too much. i just lost interest.

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too long


This is a very long and detailed book. I would not recommend it. it was too technical.

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