Can anyone remember this book - popular psychology type thing

[LaneBoy]

It was similar to “the man who mistook his wife for a hat” but it wasn’t that. Not as famous and different author. It would have been maybe 2004ish that I read it.

A collection of chapters about different psychological issues - can’t remember much but I think it may have had the condition where you think you should have a limb amputated.

I think it’s also where I learned that nymphomania refers to females and that there’s a male term (satyriasis?) so there must have been a chapter on that.

I also associate it with hamlet for some reason - there may have been a chapter that mentioned something to do with the play? But I don’t know the play so I can’t figure it out.

The cover was quite dark and had a man’s face from an old painting, I think.

Hopeful bump!

That sounds REALLY familiar, I’ll have a look at my bookshelves later

Is it possibly Opening Skinners Box? If not, would recommend that too!

It’s not that one, but I absolutely loved that book so agree with the recommendation :o

It’s not “Fads and Fallacies” about outdated medical beliefs is it? I seem to remember reading something like that in there?

Sorry - just looked on amazon and seen there are several by that name. “Fads & Fallacies in the name of science” was the one i read. Originally from the 1950s but updated and fascinating.

It’s not that one either but thank you - looks really interesting so I’ve made a note of it!

Might be worth trawling through some of these Goodreads list:

www.goodreads.com/list/show/1295.Greatest_Psychology_Books

www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/pop-psychology

www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/psychology

Oh wow thanks for those, I can’t see the book on there but the last one says showing 50 of... but I can’t see a way of viewing another page or anything, do you need to join up for that?

No need to join, for any Goodreads list - that’s longer than one page of entries - when you want to see the rest of the list just scroll to the bottom of the listed, visible titles on the page you’re looking at, and underneath the last title showing, you will see this on the left, in smaller lettering:

previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 next →

Just click on the number for the next page and it will load..

Oliver Sacks wrote another book about the condition of feeling that one of your own limbs is "alien", called A Leg to Stand On. It's definitely not that one, is it?

Thanks, for some reason the buttons didn’t load on safari, but I opened them on the app and and they did! Not on the last list at all (looked through all 25 pages 😂) but I will look at the others too.

Nope not the Oliver Sacks one, I’m pretty sure one of the chapters was about the condition but it was more an anthology type thing so there were at least ten other chapters about different things. I have a feeling Sacks’ Man/wife/hat one was around, or perhaps around shortly after, I read the book in question, as I remember thinking oh I’d like that as I enjoyed this one. (Although I actually never did get round to it)

AAAAAAGH!!! I found it. Turns out the Hamlet thing was in the title!

For some reason the word madness came to me as I was looking through the lists, and that was enough to google. Before when I’d searched “hamlet psychology book” (along with various conditions I thought were in it) nothing came up but “madness” was enough.

Now I just need to work out why I read that in the first place, as I had no interest in Hamlet but maybe there was less choice in similar books at the time?!

Thank you all for the suggestions, I have also increased my wish list now :o

Slightly concerned that remembering the book yourself after asking mumsnet is a massive faux pas, sorry

So glad you remembered the book @LaneBoy.

I was going to suggest The man who tasted shapes, by Richard Cytowic. Introduced me to synesthesia and completely blew my mind!

Oh that one did come up on the goodreads lists, I take it it’s good? I wrote a poem on synaesthesia in my edgy creative writing teen phase :o I don’t have it myself though - can’t imagine what it’s like.

It's a very long time since I read it, probably early 2000s, which is why I thought of it when you said you read your book in 2004ish. I remember it as being very good. I stumbled across it in the library and was fascinated by the title.

I studied The man who mistook his wife for a hat for A level English (there was a non-fiction module) and was fascinated by it and it sparked my interest in psychology.

I'm adding your one to my reading list!

If you like case study type ones, you might like Love's Executioner by Irving Yalom. Psychotherapy more than neurology cases but really interesting and well written