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Veronica O'Keane
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The Rag and Bone Shop: How We Make Memories and Memories Make Us Hardcover – February 4, 2021

by Veronica O'Keane (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 66 ratings
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'Vivid, unforgettable . . . a fascinating, instructive, wise and compassionate book' John Banville

A leading psychiatrist shows how the mysteries of the brain are illuminated at the extremes of human experience

A twinge of sadness, a rush of love, a knot of loss, a whiff of regret. Memories have the power to move us, often when we least expect it, a sign of the complex neural process that continues in the background of our everyday lives. A process that shapes us: filtering the world around us, informing our behaviour and feeding our imagination.

As a practising psychiatrist, Veronica O'Keane has spent many years observing how memory and experience are interwoven. In this rich, fascinating exploration, she asks, among other things, why can memories feel so real? How are our sensations and perceptions connected with them? Why is place so important in memory? Are there such things as 'true' and 'false' memories? And, above all, what happens when the process of memory is disrupted by mental illness? Here O' Keane uses the broken memories of psychosis to illuminate the integrated human brain, offering a new way of thinking about our own personal experiences.

Drawing on the poignant stories of her patients and much more, from literature and fairy tales, O'Keane uses the latest neuroscientific research to reframe our understanding of the extraordinary puzzle that is the human brain; from birth through to adolescence and old age. This book is a testament to the courage - and suffering - of those who live with serious mental illness, showing how their experiences unlock everything we know and feel.

Previous page
  1. Print length
    288 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Allen Lane
  4. Publication date
    February 4, 2021
  5. Dimensions
    6.38 x 1.1 x 9.45 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0241401895
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0241401897
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Allen Lane (February 4, 2021)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0241401895
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0241401897
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.1 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.38 x 1.1 x 9.45 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 66 ratings

About the author

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Veronica O'Keane

Veronica O'Keane

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I am a clinical psychiatrist and neuroscientist working in Trinity College Dublin. My core interest is human experience, and what is happening in the brain as we live from one moment to the next. In order to understand yourself, you need to understand what is happening in your brain and how memories have sculpted your brain. One of the best way to understand normal experiences is through examination of the abnormal, which I have done for 36 years. I believe that mental illness is the last major areas of human medicine that needs to be enlightened by science.

I live by the sea in north Dublin and am a passionate open sea swimmer.

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
66 global ratings

Top review from the United States

James Connelly
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb book
Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2022
Verified Purchase
The author is a learned and humane physician and psychiatrist. Her knowledge of how the brain, the senses, and the body itself work together to create, preserve, and edit memories is quite remarkable. Her grasp of how literary works express an understanding of how the mind works (e.g., Yeats, Proust, et al.) shows her remarkable breadth as both author and person. One learns a lot of surprising things from this fine book: for example, that the traditional mind-body dichotomy is a false model, as the brain and the rest of the body interact and influence each other in constant communication. The title here is that of the British edition by Allen Lane; the American edition bears a different title: "A Sense of Self: Memory, the Brain, and Who We Are" -- same book otherwise, even down to the pagination. A real eye-opener for a lay reader and a book that never, ever talks down to its reader.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Jill
4.0 out of 5 stars insightful
Reviewed in Italy on March 22, 2023
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I picked up this book after finding a nonfiction on sleep patterns affecting the brain's work and mental disorders, quite informative and fascinating to learn about. In The Rag and Bone Shop, the author explains what a memory is, how it is stored in the brain and how, still working together with our senses, it can hold a moment, a sensation and a smell we can link to the memory we have experienced in the past. Veronica O'Keane made mention of clinical evidence from working with people suffering from mental disorders related to the malfunction of certain parts of the brain, plus she uses several literary references that I found very helpful and enjoyable to read.
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Julian Williams
5.0 out of 5 stars Simply written but profound
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 15, 2021
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I am writing this early as I am still only one third of the way through the book. I read these books quite slowly underlining key phrases and passages as I go, and then re- read the chapters before moving to the next. So it will be some weeks before I finish.

My first impressions are that Veronica O'Keane has a profound understanding of memories, how they are created and affect us. She is good at interweaving history, and stories of her patients, with the development of mind sciences and how far we have got with our understanding of its processes. When I review my underlined passages I find she has hit the concepts she wants to get across squarely on the head.

We all know memory is a dynamic process, and that false memories are impossible to separate from memories of real events. O'keane takes us into a deeper understanding, without blinding us with a dense text.

I think this is the best book I have read on memory.
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Ian E. Hart
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant
Reviewed in Australia on August 18, 2023
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Not an easy read, but a brilliant explanation of the latest research into how the brain funcxtions.
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Paulo
5.0 out of 5 stars Must read book for anyone interested in mind, brain, memory, mood, emotion.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 7, 2021
Verified Purchase
This is the work of a distinguished academic psychiatrist with a wealth of research and clinical experience behind her.
An engaging writing style which takes you on a personal and professional journey and along the way addresses some of the central questions in psychology and psychiatry. And, indeed, life. Written almost in the style of a whodunnit. It will be of interest to professionals and lay men and women alike.
One person found this helpful
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Steve H
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
Reviewed in Australia on April 25, 2023
Verified Purchase
A very interesting perspective by a very read and highly educated author
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