On the Move audiobook cover - A Life

On the Move

A Life

Oliver Sacks

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Categories:
Biography & MemoirPsychology

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On the Move
Early Life & Identity+
Academic & Career Uncertainty+
The California Double Life+
Finding Purpose in New York+
Literary Legacy & Style+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 9
How did Oliver Sacks's early interests shape his unique career path?
  • A. His early focus on mathematics and physics led him to pioneer computational neurology.
  • B. His childhood love for both scientific experimentation and classic literature eventually fused into his narrative-driven medical writing.
  • C. His strict religious upbringing pushed him to rebel and exclusively pursue secular, data-driven scientific research.
  • D. His early failure in chemistry classes forced him to focus entirely on storytelling and fiction writing.
Question 2 of 9
What event deeply affected Sacks’s relationship with his own sexuality, leading to lifelong guilt and inhibition?
  • A. A traumatic romantic rejection by a fellow medical student at Oxford University.
  • B. His father's threat to cut off his medical school funding if he did not marry a woman.
  • C. His mother calling him an 'abomination' after learning from his father that he was gay.
  • D. A public scandal during his residency that almost cost him his medical license.
Question 3 of 9
Despite struggling with factual recall exams in medical school, how did Sacks manage to win the prestigious Theodore Williams Scholarship in Human Anatomy?
  • A. By conducting a groundbreaking independent research project on earthworm nerve fibers.
  • B. By writing a brilliant essay while intoxicated, relying on his talent for narrative and argumentation.
  • C. By memorizing an entire anatomy textbook the night before the examination.
  • D. By discovering a previously undocumented structural differentiation in the human brain.
Question 4 of 9
During his time in California, what triggered Sacks's severe downward spiral into heavy amphetamine addiction?
  • A. The pressure of trying to maintain his state record in weightlifting while working as a doctor.
  • B. A devastating motorcycle accident that left him with chronic pain.
  • C. The loss of his research funding at UCLA due to his involvement with the Hells Angels.
  • D. The sudden departure of his romantic interest, Mel, which left him feeling rejected and isolated.
Question 5 of 9
Why did Sacks's supervisors at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine suggest he transition from research to clinical work?
  • A. He was incredibly clumsy, frequently losing notes and ruining lab samples with food crumbs.
  • B. His writing was too poetic and narrative-driven for traditional scientific research papers.
  • C. He spent too much time talking to patients instead of focusing on his microscope work.
  • D. He was caught stealing medical supplies to support his drug habit.
Question 6 of 9
What profound realization did Sacks have while working at the headache clinic in the Bronx?
  • A. That migraines were entirely psychological and could be cured solely through psychoanalysis.
  • B. That patients' migraines were often deeply intertwined with their unique individualities and creative processes.
  • C. That amphetamines could be repurposed as a highly effective cure for chronic migraines.
  • D. That clinical work was too emotionally draining and he needed to return to laboratory research.
Question 7 of 9
How did Sacks's supervisor, Dr. Arnold P. Friedman, react when Sacks wrote a draft of a book about migraines?
  • A. He eagerly co-authored the book, using his reputation to secure a publishing deal.
  • B. He supported the book but insisted Sacks remove all narrative elements and focus only on data.
  • C. He felt threatened, confiscated Sacks's notes, and threatened to ruin his career if he published it.
  • D. He fired Sacks immediately but allowed him to take his research notes back to England.
Question 8 of 9
What was a major challenge Sacks's editors faced when working with him on his book manuscripts?
  • A. He was a compulsive rewriter who would add hundreds of footnotes and excessively long revisions.
  • B. He frequently missed deadlines because he was busy going on long motorcycle road trips.
  • C. He refused to let anyone edit his work, claiming that his medical expertise made his writing flawless.
  • D. He suffered from severe writer's block and often submitted manuscripts that were far too short.
Question 9 of 9
What was distinctive about Oliver Sacks’s approach to writing medical case studies compared to his contemporaries?
  • A. He strictly adhered to modern, data-driven formats, stripping away all subjective patient experiences.
  • B. He focused entirely on the biochemical mechanisms of disease, completely ignoring the patients' personal lives.
  • C. He revived the 19th-century style of narrative-driven, people-focused writing that read more like novels.
  • D. He wrote his case studies as fictional allegories to protect the strict privacy of his patients.

On the Move — Full Chapter Overview

On the Move Summary & Overview

On the Move (2015) is a poignant memoir that tells the story of how Oliver Sacks became an acclaimed writer and neurologist. Published the year of his death, it provides a wistful account of his turbulent young adulthood – detailing his struggle with addiction and addressing his sexuality for the first time in print.

Who Should Listen to On the Move ?

  • Fans of Oliver Sacks   
  • Readers interested in medical writing
  • Anyone who likes a good coming-of-age story

About the Author: Oliver Sacks

Oliver Sacks was a British neurologist and writer who spent most of his career in the United States. After receiving his medical education at Oxford University, he worked at various hospitals in San Francisco and New York City. He specialized in working with patients with unusual neurological conditions. Many of his books were based on case studies about those patients. They include Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. He also wrote about his own unusual neurological experiences in his books such as No Leg to Stand On and The Mind’s Eye. 

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