2. What did Sacks hope to see when he reached the mountain's summit?
(a) The bull that lived there.
(b) The temple at the top.
(c) A good view of the city.
(d) A good view of the surrounding mountains.

3. What town's hospital was Sacks taken to first?
(a) Odda's.
(b) Bergen's.
(c) London's.
(d) Oslo's.

4. How has Sacks written the book A Leg to Stand On?
(a) As an expose.
(b) As a novel or short story.
(c) As a prose poem.
(d) As an autobiography.

5. As Sacks notes at the beginning of the Acknowledgments, what has he done since his injury?
(a) Investigated current neuropsychological practice.
(b) Interviewed hundreds of similar patients.
(c) Strengthened his legs so he could hike again.
(d) Written two other books about medical phenomena.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who inspired and encouraged Sacks to finish his book?

2. In what publication did Sacks's first article about his injury appear?

3. What instrument did Sacks have for listening to music?

4. After he fell, what story did Sacks recall the villagers telling him?

5. What role did Mary-Kay Wilmers play in Sacks's recovery?

Short Essay Questions

1. What paradoxical command did Sacks find while he was in Limbo? How do you think this contrasted with his previous way of living?

2. What advice did Sacks's maiden aunt give him? How does this advice come across on the printed page?

3. During the first night in the hospital whom did Sacks see in his dream? How did Sacks live to imitate this person?

4. Sacks says that simply his ability to stand changed the world and his place in it. How did this happen?

5. What distinction does Freud make between types of paralyses? How did the distinction pave the way for a significantly narrow view of neurology?

6. A large portion of the horror Sacks felt in Limbo was the silence. What other time has Sacks experienced such deep silence? How does this connection contribute to Limbo?

7. What meals does Sacks describe most from his time in the hospital? What do these meals say about his frame of mind at each time?

8. Through what physical senses does Sacks reenter the world of men?

9. While in the hospital, Sacks felt morally and physically prostrate before the doctor. How do you think this happened?

10. How many patients with neurological disorders did Sacks study following his recovery? What does this number say about the people involved?

(see the answer keys)

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