The Perpetual Now: A Story of Amnesia, Memory, and Love

The Perpetual Now: A Story of Amnesia, Memory, and Love

Michael D. Lemonick • Doubleday

This edition of The Perpetual Now: A Story of Amnesia, Memory, and Love

ISBN-10: 1764981014 · ISBN-13: 978‑0385539661 · 2017 · 1st Edition

Live offer for this book: 1 live copy of this book from $5 (as of 2026-09-05).

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In the aftermath of a shattering illness, Lonni Sue Johnson—a renowned artist who regularly produced covers for The New Yorker, a gifted musician, a skilled amateur pilot, and a joyful presence to all who knew her—lives in a "perpetual now." Lonni Sue has almost no memories of the past and a nearly complete inability to form new ones. Remarkably, however, she retains much of the intellect and artistic skills from her previous life. As such, Lonni Sue's story has become part of a much larger scientific narrative—one that is currently challenging traditional wisdom about how human memory and awareness are stored in the brain.In this probing, compassionate, and illuminating book, award-winning science journalist Michael D. Lemonick tells the unique drama of Lonni Sue Johnson's day-to-day life and explains the groundbreaking revelations about memory, learning, and consciousness her unique case has uncovered. This is his nuanced and intimate look of the science that lies at the very heart of human nature.

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1 live copy of this book from $5 (as of 2026-09-05).

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