• The Mind Electric by Pria Anand
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The Mind Electric

Stories of the Strangeness and Wonder of Our Brains
  • Author
    • Pria Anand
£22.00
£22.00
'Superb, compelling, delightfully labyrinthine' Telegraph

'The book fans of Oliver Sacks have been craving' The i

'Lyrical and spellbinding' New Scientist

'The best book I have read in years' Psychologist

A young woman channelling the voice of the Holy Spirit. A mother whose children have been replaced by changelings. A family cursed by a mysterious inability to sleep. Pria Anand's patients come to her with myriad peculiar symptoms, but they all have something in common: their diagnosis always hinges on a story. Her task as a neurologist is akin to a detective's, piecing together the clues in a patient's account with the tells of their body in order to settle on a diagnosis.

In her gorgeously lyrical, passionate and humane first book, Pria Anand shares stories of her own patients alongside her own experiences as a doctor, a mother and a patient, in order to explore all the bizarre ways in which our brains go awry. Moving from the Boston hospital where she treats her patients, to her childhood years in India, to Isla Providencia in the Caribbean and to Guinea in West Africa, she demonstrates again and again the compelling paradox at the heart of neurology: that the strangest symptoms experienced by any single individual can show us something universal about being human.

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  • Published: Jun 05 2025
  • Pages: 288
  • 236 x 162mm
  • ISBN: 9780349019109
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Press Reviews

  • Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone

    Anand's writing is reminiscent of Oliver Sacks and the best of medical writing. I found the tales of her personal experiences and the dive into history fascinating. The Mind Electric is a compelling read

  • Gwen Adshead, author of The Devil You Know

    A rich and humane work, compelling in its compassion for the personal stories behind the symptoms that bring people to clinics. Pria Anand deftly weaves her own story of change with those of her patients

  • Susannah Cahalan, author of Brain on Fire

    The Mind Electric is stunning, full of wisdom, revelation and poetry. I was continually awed by Dr. Pria Anand's insight into the darkest shadows of the human experience. I loved every minute of this remarkable book and I will never think of my brain and body in the same way again.

  • Danielle Ofri, author of What Doctors Feel

    Pria Anand just might be the heir to Oliver Sacks. Her gorgeous writing and incisive analysis reveal the marvellous neurological underpinnings of our existence. A stunning debut!
  • New Scientist, The Best Popular Science Books to Look Forward to in 2025
    Pria Anand shares the strangeness and sheer wonder of our brains in a testament to the wildness inside us all

  • Laura van den Berg, author of State of Paradise

    Pria Anand braids together science and narrative in this magnificent exploration of how the mind shapes - and upends-the story of our life. The Mind Electric is as gorgeous and complex and astounding as the brain itself

  • Elinor Cleghorn, author of Unwell Women

    At once epic and intricate, personal and universal, The Mind Electric is a fascinating journey through the curious capacities of our brains. A moving and compelling testimony to the importance of telling - and listening to - the stories of what makes us human

  • Tanya Luhrmann, author of How God Becomes Real

    Vivid and entertaining, The Mind Electric Takes us into the strange and sometimes wonderful landscape of neurological impairment. This is a beautifully written book

  • Publishers Weekly

    Luminous ... an engrossing exploration of the brain's extraordinary powers and terrifying frailties
  • Bookseller, Editor's Choice
    A beautifully composed debut by a US neurologist about the peculiar ways individual brains behave and how this can teach us something universal about being human. If you love the work of Oliver Sacks, you'll embrace this as I did
  • Telegraph
    Superb. Anand writes with circumspection and sensitivity, and with creativity and verve as well. Delightfully labyrinthine ... a compelling tapestry of stories somehow both discrete and happening all at once, its threads overlapping and interweaving with layers hidden underneath
  • The i
    The book fans of Oliver Sacks have been craving
  • Observer
    Powerful, persuasive ... transcends the limitations of the popular science genre and raises broader philosophical questions concerning what it means to be human
  • Globe and Mail, 35 hot new summer books
    In the acknowledged spirit of the late Oliver Sacks, she brings us more tales from the wondrously strange land of the human brain through a weaving-together of case studies, fables, poetry and personal reminiscence
  • Psychologist
    The best book I've read for years
  • New Scientist
    Lyrical and spellbinding ... her prose is elegant and controlled ... Anand demonstrates the empathy, humility and profound interest in humanity that demarcates an exceptional doctor
  • Irish Times
    A powerful, engaging and tender read ... Anand's keen observations and evocative storytelling make for compelling reading