I find it interesting that a reporter found Oliver Sacks confessing to fabricating patients for his books *in his own words in his own journals* and this revelation just kind of bounced off of the world.
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I find it interesting that a reporter found Oliver Sacks confessing to fabricating patients for his books *in his own words in his own journals* and this revelation just kind of bounced off of the world.
His reputation seems to have not taken a hit as far as I can tell. If this happened to a living writer I think there'd be large repercussions for that person's career.
Rachel Aviv & The New Yorker handled the reporting and writing deftly and with sensitivity...maybe that's why. A headline blaring that Sacks was a fabulist probably would've had more impact.
Oliver Sacks Put Himself Into His Case Studies. What Was the Cost? | The New Yorker
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/12/15/oliver-sacks-put-himself-into-his-case-studies-what-was-the-cost -
T #medicine shared this topic on
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I find it interesting that a reporter found Oliver Sacks confessing to fabricating patients for his books *in his own words in his own journals* and this revelation just kind of bounced off of the world.
His reputation seems to have not taken a hit as far as I can tell. If this happened to a living writer I think there'd be large repercussions for that person's career.
Rachel Aviv & The New Yorker handled the reporting and writing deftly and with sensitivity...maybe that's why. A headline blaring that Sacks was a fabulist probably would've had more impact.
Oliver Sacks Put Himself Into His Case Studies. What Was the Cost? | The New Yorker
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/12/15/oliver-sacks-put-himself-into-his-case-studies-what-was-the-cost@brianvastag What he wrote wasn't a research paper, it was literature, and therefore this accusations don't standard all.
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@brianvastag What he wrote wasn't a research paper, it was literature, and therefore this accusations don't standard all.
@RFancio His books were and are marketed and sold as non-fiction, as were his pieces for The New Yorker. Amazon puts most of his books in their "medicine/neuroscience" section. Aviv reported Sacks's own words from his own journals admitting to fabricating patients and stories, such as the autistic twins who could supposedly instantly factoring 21-digit numbers. So it's not an accusation, it's reporting Sacks's own confessions.
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@RFancio His books were and are marketed and sold as non-fiction, as were his pieces for The New Yorker. Amazon puts most of his books in their "medicine/neuroscience" section. Aviv reported Sacks's own words from his own journals admitting to fabricating patients and stories, such as the autistic twins who could supposedly instantly factoring 21-digit numbers. So it's not an accusation, it's reporting Sacks's own confessions.
@brianvastag But not research
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