Harvard-Radcliffe Club of Westchester

GRAY MATTERS tells the riveting tale of how brain surgery arrived at its current state and why the road to manipulating this extraordinarily complex three-pound organ has not always been smooth. From the early procedures performed by Harvey Cushing, the “Father of Neurosurgery,” to the new frontier of brain-computer interfaces, neurosurgery has changed and expanded at a rapid-fire pace over the last 120 years. Schwartz introduces readers to pioneering figures who followed Cushing’s innovative lead—along with those who championed the frontal lobotomy, naming several recipients of his “Hannibal Lecter” brain mutilation prize—as well as with some of today’s inspiring leaders, like Dr. Karin Muraszko (who has spina bifida and was the first female head of a neurosurgery department in the U.S. when she became the chair at the University of Michigan in 2005).
 

Throughout GRAY MATTERS, Dr. Schwartz presents case studies that bring to life the complexity and fragility of the brain. Readers will explore the brain injuries and surgeries of figures like Presidents Lincoln, Kennedy, and Biden; screen stars Bob Saget, Michael J. Fox, Emilia Clarke, and Natasha Richardson; athletes Muhammad Ali, NFL Player “Iron Mike” Webster, and Lance Armstrong; and many others. In each person’s story, he pinpoints critical moments where brain surgeons made the crucial difference and what was really on the line.

The emotional intensity of such situations becomes even more palpable when Dr. Schwartz details frightening scenarios during which he was responsible for caring for those close to him, including his father’s aphasia, his mother’s stroke, and a friend’s subarachnoid hemorrhage. When it comes to brain damage, time is of the essence, and immediate action can make all the difference. But what goes through the doctor’s mind when the patient is a loved one?

Dr. Schwartz also brings readers into the operating room to experience seemingly impossible and gut-wrenching tasks, like delicately removing tumors from the most critical locations or delivering devastating news to families. It’s a book as full of science and history as heart and humanity.

With 30 years of experience, including his current role as a professor of neurosurgery at Weill Cornell Medicine, Dr. Schwartz has a unique lens into the field. Perfect for readers of moving and illuminating nonfiction like When Breath Becomes Air and The Emperor of All Maladies, GRAY MATTERS cuts to the core of who we are by exploring this mind-altering endeavor.