‘First and foremost, Lewis is a scientist — but he combines his research with his life experiences. His explanation of addiction is grounded in the personal, which sets him apart from many of his colleagues.’
San Francisco Chronicle Review
‘Takes on all of human longing … Dr Lewis can write. The result is not just a book about a brain on drugs, but a picture of addiction as an unavoidable urge of human nature.’
Ian Brown, Globe & Mail
‘Compelling reading for anyone interested in the brain, addiction and the challenges of affluence, opportunity and the regulation of desire.’
Sydney Morning Herald
‘It's a vivid portrait of a confused young man's struggle to escape himself.’
The Age
‘A cracker. The writing is the strong suit … a riveting discussion of what goes on in an addicted brain … The science is up to the minute. Lewis clearly knows his stuff.’
Weekend Australian
‘[A]n unusual and exciting book … This memoir is as strange, immediate and artfully written as any Oliver Sacks case-study, with the added scintillation of having been composed by its subject.’
The Guardian
‘[Lewis'] analysis of brain mechanisms comes alive in a way that is unprecedented in modern literature.’
Professor Don Tucker
‘Beautifully crafted and illuminating on multiple levels, this is a book you won’t want to set down.’
Kent Berridge, professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Michigan
‘Great writers create new genres, and that’s exactly what Lewis has done … A heartwrenching story, beautifully written, and no one should be allowed to pronounce about addiction without having read it.’
Evan Thompson
‘Splendid, moving, and highly informative.’
Nico Frijda
‘Meticulous, evocative … His odyssey frames a fascinating look at the mechanisms by which drugs disrupt brain chemistry, excite or sedate neurons, and trash perception, reasoning, and emotion … Lewis’s unusual blend of scientific expertise, street cred, vivid subjectivity, and searching introspection yields a compelling perspective on the perils and allure of addiction.’
Publishers Weekly, starred review
‘Developmental neuroscientist Lewis examines his odyssey from minor stoner to helpless, full-blown addict … as [he] unspools one pungent drug episode after another, he capably knits into the narrative an accessible explanation of the neural activity that guided his behaviour. From opium pipe to orbitofrontal cortex, a smoothly entertaining interplay between lived experience and the particulars of brain activity.’
Kirkus Reviews
‘A powerful survey recounting the author’s powerful addiction and how he broke an intense hold on drugs … This will appeal to a range of collections, from those strong in autobiographies to science and health holdings alike.’
Midwest Book Review
‘He proceeds deftly from episodes of his drug years to neuroscientific explanations of his brain's response to drugs.’
Chronicle of Higher Education
’Memoirs of an Addicted Brain may be the most original and illuminating addiction memoir since Thomas De Quincey's seminal Confessions of an Opium Eater… [An] electrifying debut.‘
The Fix
‘One would imagine that the number of junkies who graduate as professional neuroscientists is fairly small. If you then only counted those who could write — in a way that is both entertaining and erudite — the sub-category would narrow down to one. And his name would be Marc Lewis.’
Illawarra Mercury
