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A Story of Amnesia, Memory, and Love
by Michael D. Lemonick
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 ten to fifteen 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.
"Starred Review. His great accomplishment is helping us see the 'new' Lonni Sue as a most remarkable person. An absolutely memorable book." - Kirkus
"Eminently approachable, this book will be attractive to lay readers curious about memory and the brain, particularly those who have followed the career of H.M." - Library Journal
"Fans of the late Oliver Sacks will appreciate the blend of heart and science in Lemonick's account." - Publishers Weekly
"Watching Lonni Sue and her family reconstruct her life under nearly impossible circumstances is an enthralling story of patience, determination and love, and the bonus is that it's also a window into the emerging science of how the brain makes, stores and recalls memories. You'll never think about your own brain in the same way again." - Dan Fagin, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Tom's River
"The Perpetual Now is a fascinating and artful book that takes us deep into the most mysterious labyrinth in nature, the human brain." - Richard Preston, New York Times bestselling author of The Hot Zone and The Wild Trees
"Michael D. Lemonick, the rare journalist and author who can weave a compelling narrative while unpacking complex science, tells Johnson's unexpectedly life-affirming story and, in doing so, explores what researchers know - and are continually learning - about human memory." - Jeffrey Kluger, Editor at Large of Time magazine and co-author of Apollo 13
"[The Perpetual Now] enhances not only our understanding of the brain but also our appreciation of human resilence." - Katrina Firlik M.D., author of Another Day in the Frontal Lobe: A Brain Surgeon Exposes Life on the Inside
This information about The Perpetual Now was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Michael D. Lemonick is the Opinion Editor at Scientific American. He has written more than 50 Time magazine cover stories on science, and has written for National Geographic, The New Yorker and other publications. This is his seventh book.
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