This book was nothing short of amazing. I'm extremely interested in neuroscience and the history of the lobotomy -- this book was the perfect intersection. Having read several books on memory and lobotomies, I was already familiar with the case of H.M. but this book explored who H.M. was as a person which was never allowed to enter into the scientific case studies.

Author Luke Dittrich writes from a very personal place since it was his own grandfather, Dr. Scoville, who performed the lobotomy on Patient HM and so many others, including his severely ill wife. In that sense, Dittrich often comes across at angry and occasionally petulant in his desire to defend all the good that his grandfather did while also mourning the horrors inflicted on unsuspecting patients.

This book is also raises important questions regarding medical and scientific ethics. The woman "in charge" of HM's care during the final years of his life, was the woman whose career exploded into the limelight thanks to her research on HM. She also assigned HM's guardian who was a man who was not at all invested in his care. This "scientist" closely guarded her own research and access to HM to keep others from learning more about the enigmatic patient. Dittrich also brought to light the possibility that research data might have been falsified. However, we'll never know since she destroyed nearly all the records and test data prior to her death.

As an avid reader of science and history books, this was a wonderful read. Dittrich brings in enough science to keep those in the field engaged but he also makes it approachable for the causal reader. Writing from a very personal space, Dittrich brings to life the wonderful man known to most only as HM. Dittrich balances his disdain for his grandfather's procedures with facts, figures, and light-hearted tales of growing up as Dr. Scoville's grandson. Patient H.M. is an important tale of science gone awry and the dangers of being on the bleeding edge of medicine.

If you are a fan of Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and are interested in neurosurgery, then this book will appeal to you. The book is interesting, thought provoking and personal in nature. It brings to light so many ethical dilemmas and issues of the early day of modern medicine.

I thought this was going to be a story, but it is more of a recount of a real event and the people involved. I tried to get into the history of this story but I didn't finish. Read only if interested in this specific story or are interested in medical procedures done on patients with psychological problems.