Listen free for 30 days

Preview

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Awakenings

Written by: Oliver Sacks
Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Oliver Sacks
Try for $0.00

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $31.26

Buy Now for $31.26

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.

Publisher's Summary

Awakenings - which inspired the major motion picture - is the remarkable story of a group of patients who contracted sleeping sickness during the great epidemic just after World War I. Frozen for decades in a trance-like state, these men and women were given up as hopeless until 1969, when Dr. Oliver Sacks gave them the then-new drug L-DOPA, which had an astonishing, explosive, "awakening" effect. Dr. Sacks recounts the moving case histories of his patients, their lives, and the extraordinary transformations which went with their reintroduction to a changed world.

PLEASE NOTE: Some changes have been made to the original manuscript with the permission of Oliver Sacks.

©1973, 1976, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1990 Oliver Sacks (P)2011 Audible, Inc.
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What the critics say

"One of the most beautifully composed and moving works of our time." ( The Washington Post)

What listeners say about Awakenings

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    3
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    4
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

outstanding, informative, entertaining.

this is not what I was expecting, I had anticipated a novel form of the movie Awakenings on which this was based. what I got was much more interesting.. an intimate look at many of the case studies on which the movie was based, all told with a narrative tone that might make a phone book a pleasurable read. The narration was excellent, as in 'the man who mistook his wife for a hat' and he will forever be the voice of Oliver Sacks to me.. I watched an interview on YouTube with him it didn't feel right... wrong voice.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!