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  • The Lobotomist

  • A Maverick Medical Genius and His Tragic Quest to Rid the World of Mental Illness
  • Written by: Jack El-Hai
  • Narrated by: Peter Lerman
  • Length: 15 hrs and 40 mins

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The Lobotomist cover art

The Lobotomist

Written by: Jack El-Hai
Narrated by: Peter Lerman
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Publisher's Summary

The Lobotomist explores one of the darkest chapters of American medicine: the desperate attempt to treat the hundreds of thousands of psychiatric patients in need of help during the middle decades of the 20th century. Into this crisis stepped Walter Freeman, MD, who saw a solution in lobotomy, a brain operation intended to reduce the severity of psychotic symptoms. Drawing on Freeman's documents and interviews with Freeman's family, Jack El-Hai takes a penetrating look at the life and work of this complex scientific genius.

©2005 Jack El-Hai (P)2021 Tantor

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