The account of a community from the remote mountains of Colombia whose rare and fatal genetic mutation is unlocking the secrets of Alzheimer’s disease.
Smith renders an exquisite first-hand account of a brain dissection, offering just enough vivid detail without churning stomachs ... Avoiding dry jargon, Smith masterfully infuses details from medical records to offer intimate glimpses into the heartbreaking paths taken by the disease as it robs people of all the little things that make them who they are.
Skillfully relay[ed] ... Ms. Smith had broad access to both the scientists and the families, and her ability to translate dense scientific data into lay terms will help readers get through some of the more technical passages of the book.
Anyone who still holds a Dawkinsian view of science as abstract and logical should read Valley of Forgetting to disabuse themselves ... The book comes alive ... An easier read with more human interest ... [A] valuable guide.
