An instant bestseller, Sacks's 1985 book argues that, by connecting with their patients and pay attention to their stories, doctors can provide significantly more effective care. Sacks challenges the impersonal nature of relying on clinical studies to set the course of treatment, an approach he believes limits the ability to understand and successfully treat a patient. Instead, Sacks, a neurologist, focuses on how patients cope with their disorders and their altered sense of self. He provides rich, narrative case studies of his patients, casting them almost as literary heroes and heroines. This approach not only won plaudits—it paved the way for a new literary genre: popular science.