Self Comes to Mind

Awareness may be mostly mystery, but Damasio shapes its hints and glimmerings into an imaginative, informed narrative

Kirkus

The marvel of reading Damasio's book is to be convinced one can follow the brain at work as it makes the private reality that is the deepest self

V. S. Naipaul

Damasio's most ambitious work yet. It is a lucid and important work

Word

The epicenter of Self Comes to Mind concerns the neurological basis for cognition and the issue of the superposition of a "self' onto the construct which we address as reality. Damasio is both eloquent and scholarly. His command of the themes he approaches is impressive, as is the vigor with which he tackles such recondite issues as the elusive "self," inside the head. A wonderful read, and a recommended one!

Rodolfo R. Llinás, New York University

In this astonishing work, Antonio Damasio puts his years of investigation into the processes of the brain to open the impenetrable mysteries of self and mind, where all the contradictions of human experience unite in the ultimate unknown, consciousness.

Peter Brook, theater and film director and author of The Empty Space and Threads of Time.

Self Comes to Mind is often an exhilarating read. Not unlike Carl Sagan, Damasio is clearly excited by the findings he describes, and the thrill of discovery shines through his fine, clear prose

Tom Jacobs

I was totally captivated by Self Comes to Mind.In this work Antonio Damasio presents his seminal discoveries in the field of neuroscience in the broader contexts of evolutionary biology and cultural development.This trailblazing book gives us a new way of thinking about ourselves, our history, and the importance of culture in shaping our common future

Yo-Yo Ma, Musician

Damasio makes a grand transition from higher-brain views of emotions to deeply evolutionary, lower-brain contributions to emotional, sensory and homeostatic experiences. He affirms that the roots of consciousness are affective and shared by our fellow animals. Damasio's creative vision leads relentlessly toward a natural understanding of the very font of being

Jaak Panksepp, author of Affective Neuroscience

Lucid, elegantly written, and punctuated by humour... This is an exciting book by a wonderful thinker

Siri Hustvedt