Perceptive insights into a bionic experience

Mike Chorost writes perceptively and highly readably. This is no mean feat when having to describe some rather sophisticated science and technology. He manages to humanize the encounter for himself and the reader. The book covers a lot of ground almost effortlessly, capturing insights into the culture of the Deaf, the development of cochlear implant technology, the nature of sensory perception, and much more.

Enjoyable, unique, brave

This book is unique because Chorost spans so well the seemingly opposite genres of novel/autobiography and technical scientific/academic text. Oh yeah, and a bunch of philosophy and poetry included too, all of it great. It is the kind of book I would like to write, if I ever got a round tuit. I did write something similar (the Toothlog), in blog form circa 1997 before they were called blogs... But Chorost put much more work into this than any blogger, with references to the literature, both scientific and poetic, and lots of clever metaphors. He put his whole soul into it, and laid it bare for us to scrutinize, marvel at, get embarrassed with him about, and enjoy the complexities of. Okay, the book is about the experience of getting a cochlear implant, and how that transformed the author. But if you pick it up expecting a dry, boring deaf-person now hears story, then you will be delighted to find a very personal story you can't put down. It is thought-provoking and educational, worth the read for any reader, regardless of his or her interest in deafness and cochlear implants. A truly remarkable book.

Moving and enlightening

I have to join in on the praise. I just finished Chorost's book and think it's destined to be a classic. The chances that one of the first people to become a true cyborg would be so uniquely qualified to philosophize about it must be a million to one. The most important thing the author does is tell a deeply affecting story about his search for connection with others through the strange medium of technology in his skull. He plays himself as a sort of Edward Scissorhands, and the reader loves him for it. Chorost never learned sign language, and his coclear implant means the end of true deafness, yet his lament for the dying culture of the signing deaf community really got to me. It's the only book I've ever read about an author's parents that achieves true objective compassion for their struggles with a hearing-impaired kid.

But what nudges this book into extraordinary is Chorost's ability to write about post-modern literary theory, the intricate technology of his device, and the computational theory of mind and somehow make it a rousing yarn. I am in a state of wonder at the magnificance of the human ear, and I can give you a quick primer on the various philosophies of "reality" because it's all explained for the common man in this book. This is one of those books that makes the reader feel smarter because the smart writer speaks to you as an equal. Amazingly, I can find no other books by Chorost. This is his debut.