PositiveThe Washington PostIn vivid prose, he captures the terrifying risks he faces with each cut, each decision ... it’s hard not to like Marsh, who is so disarmingly self-effacing and honest about his regrets and failures (he didn’t have to include the fact that he once operated on the wrong side of a man’s head, for instance ) and how much he hasn’t learned along the way. He writes that a long time ago, 'I thought brain surgeons — because they handle the brain, the miraculous basis of everything we think and feel — must be tremendously wise and understand the meaning of life.' With age Marsh has come to realize 'we have no idea whatsoever as to how physical matter gives rise to consciousness, thought and feeling.' Rather, he concedes. 'I have learnt that handling the brain tells you nothing about life — other than to be dismayed by its fragility.'
Meg Howrey
PositiveThe Houston ChronicleIs there a point where a simulation - of a Mars mission, of the kind of person we aspire to be - is so realistic that it's as good as the actual thing? Howrey skillfully weaves these questions into an often funny story that grows poignant in its final chapters. We may never plumb the mysteries of outer space; we may never truly understand ourselves or the people we love, she suggests. But there's courage in the attempt.
Pamela Paul
RaveThe Washington PostMy Life With Bob can be read as an engaging and often funny memoir. It’s also a delightfully gushing love letter to books — books as a medium that can connect us, transport us and transform us. Because Paul truly is besotted with books: reading them, holding them, talking about them, writing about them and even writing her own ... At heart, though, Paul sounds like anyone whose idea of a perfect afternoon is a comfy chair and an absorbing novel.
