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The Man Who Tasted Shapes (Bradford Books)
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 500
EAN: 9780262532556
ISBN: 0262532557
Label: The MIT Press
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 296
Publication Date: September 01, 2003
Publisher: The MIT Press
Studio: The MIT Press
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Editorial Review:
Richard Cytowic's dinner host apologized, "There aren't enough points on the chicken!" He felt flavor also as a physical shape in his hands, and the chicken had come out "too round." This offbeat comment in 1980 launched Cytowic's exploration into the oddity called synesthesia. He is one of the few world authorities on the subject.
Sharing a root with anesthesia ("no sensation"), synesthesia means "joined sensation," whereby a voice, for example, is not only heard but also seen, felt, or tasted. The trait is involuntary, hereditary, and fairly common. It stayed a scientific mystery for two centuries until Cytowic's original experiments led to a neurological explanation—and to a new concept of brain organization that accentuates emotion over reason.
That chicken dinner two decades ago led Cytowic to explore a deeper reality that, he argues, exists in everyone but is often just below the surface of awareness (which is why finding meaning in our lives can be elusive). In this medical detective adventure, Cytowic shows how synesthesia, far from being a mere curiosity, illuminates a wide swath of mental life and leads to a new view of what is means to be human—a view that turns upside down conventional ideas about reason, emotional knowledge, and self-understanding.
This 2003 edition features a new afterword.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Fascinating
I am fascinated by synesthesia but have been unable to find many books about it. I found this one satisfied my need to not only hear more about what the experiences of synesthesia are like, but also some of the science behind it.
Rating: - One of the most eye-opening books I've ever read
I love this book. If you've ever noticed that some of your senses mingle - for instance, a food tastes jagged or sharp (and I don't mean something you could photograph), or sounds produce movement and shape and color in your mind's eye - then you will find much to fascinate you in these pages. I suspect that highly creative people have a greater degree of synesthesia than average, because it allows their perceptions to cross-reference and produce new possibilities and insights.
Rating: - Maybe my very favorite science book.
"The Man Who Tasted Shapes" is easily one of the best science-and-psychology-type books I have ever read. It tells the story of a man with synesthesia--an uncommon but very real mingling of senses, in which the barriers between the five senses break down and people will literally hear sights, see smells, and taste shapes. The book talks at length about the author's neighbor, who would feel a pleasantly cool, glassy cylinder in his mouth whenever he tasted mint, and who described chicken as tasting ... Read More
Rating:  - Not recommended
Originally published in 1993, this book is a popularization of Dr. Cytowic's more detailed 1989 book Synesthesia: A Union of the Senses. At the time it was published, it was of some value in bringing the topic of synesthesia to greater attention among both scholars and the general public. Dr. Cytowic thus gets an A for public education efforts, but a failing grade for accomplishment.
The book suffers from an unwarrantedly grandiose and revelatory style, and an amateurish presentation of the ... Read More
Rating: - A wonderful read
This is a truly great book. I enjoyed ever word on the page. Not only is it a story of a life but it teaches you about a very interesting abnormality. It goes into depth and describes at a simple enough level what is going on to cause it. It is funny and informative all in one. Not only that but it criticizes the medical community who tried to hold him back. It puts some insight into the dependents of technology in todays society.
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