A scattershot review:

As a nascent cognitive neuroscientist, I'll have to admit that the name dropping of a slew of well-known neurological conditions gave me plenty of recognizable material -- much more than is normally included in a fictitious account. You can see that Powers has done his research, he covers all of the big findings in research in the sense of Self. Tying these cases together to show how essentially formless the Self is led to a couple short passages of insight extending beyond the clinical facts and into a humanist perspective.

The narrative shifts were well executed. Powers ability to shift into the mind of the different characters and relate their tales from the obvious perspective of unique and reasonably believable characters coming from different parts of the spectrum of American mentality and attitude.

Unfortunately, something critical was missing. I cannot isolate what would have helped this book -- I felt that it contained unique content and decent writing. There were moments of clarity and insight, but overall it is clouded. At the end of the day, it makes for an entertaining read, but nothing extraordinary.