The Lobotomist by Jack El-Hai

This groundbreaking new biography takes readers into one of the darkest chapters of American medicine — the desperate attempt to treat the hundreds of thousands of psychiatric patients in need of help during the middle decades of the twentieth century. Before the introduction of effective psychiatric medication in the 1950s, patients often had no choice other than to accept confinement in crowded and horrific asylums, or to submit to dangerous “shock” therapies.

Into this crisis stepped Walter Freeman, a neurologist and psychiatrist who believed he saw a way out of this quagmire. At a time when Freudian psychoanalysis and other “talk” therapies were growing ascendant, he advocated a completely different type of treatment — a brain operation intended to reduce the severity of psychotic symptoms. In partnership with neurosurgeon James Watts, Freeman adopted the surgical technique of a little known Portuguese physician, rechristened it lobotomy , and began performing the operation in the United States. In time, he transformed lobotomy into a controversial outpatient procedure, traveled the world performing psychosurgeries, and devoted his life to tracking the recovery of his patients. Meanwhile, his personal life collapsed around him.

As gripping as a medical thriller, The Lobotomist examines the motivations of a man whose personality combined brilliance with arrogance, compassion with egotism, and determination with stubbornness. The result is an unforgettable portrait of a physician who permanently shaped the lives of his patients, as well as the course of medical history.

The Lobotomist has already received a great deal of media attention, including reviews and articles in The New York Times, Discover Magazine, the San Jose Mercury-News, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Seattle Times, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the Ottawa Citizen, and the Newark Star-Ledger, among others. Here’s a sampling of the praise:

“Jack El-Hai has written an absorbing, unsettling and cautionary story of the man who sold the lowly ice pick as the surgical solution to the mental illness of tens of thousands of people…. The author, a respected science journalist, started his research assuming that Freeman was akin to Josef Mengele. He ends this book with a nuanced, haunted view of his subject… With The Lobotomist, El-Hai gives his readers a first-class biography and, without saying so, a tutorial in the sober need for professional humility.”
— Karen R. Long, Cleveland Plain Dealer

“In The Lobotomist, Jack El-Hai's lively biography, Freeman comes across as a classic American type, a do-gooder and a go-getter with a bit of the huckster thrown in.”
— William Grimes, The New York Times

“One of the many virtues of El-Hai's text is the rich detail he provides about Freeman's life and ideas. His readers will thus be able to judge Walter Freeman for themselves and decide whether he is, as El-Hai would have it, "a maverick medical genius" or, as others have concluded, a moral monster.”
— Andrew Scull, The Los Angeles Times

“A story of desperation among thousands of patients, families, clinicians and policymakers struggling to manage a population seemingly crippled by illnesses for which there was no help. It is also a worrisome account of physicians groping for solutions to problems that they could not adequately address. In this sense, El-Hai’s treatment of this medical saga is also poignant and illuminating.”
— Richard Lipkin, Scientific American Mind

“Relying heavily upon Freeman's notes, letters, and journals, El-Hai reconstructs the life of a man whose main mission, aside from personal glory, was to help the helpless… Driven, egotistical, brilliant, and focused, Freeman is as fascinating as the chronicle of twentieth-century psychiatry in which El-Hai sets his story.”
— Donna Chavez, Booklist

“There are more curious characters than Freeman in the annals of medical history, but few are so curiously American.”
— Verlyn Klinkenborg, Discover Magazine

“A moving portrait of failed greatness… El-Hai’s book succeeds as both an empathetic, nuanced portrait of one of America’s most complex public figures and as a record of the cultural shifts that have occurred in the treatment of mental illness over the last century.”
— Publishers Weekly

“According to freelance journalist El-Hai, Walter Freeman (1895-1972) was ‘the most scorned physician of the twentieth century’ except for Nazi Josef Mengele. In this first biography, he deftly chronicles the rise and fall of Freeman and the procedure he championed.”
— Library Journal

“Parts of The Lobotomist can best be read curled in a fetal position, but the reader would be well-advised to make the effort to wade through the relievedly short gruesome passages. That’s because Walter Jackson Freeman is a man worth getting to know, a classic American archetype of genius whose one crucial idea is wielded over and over again.”
— Sam Stowe, California Literary Review

“El-Hai’s story of Walter Freeman is a spell-binding and sometimes frightening view of the mental health profession just a few decades ago…. El-Hai’s writing is flawless, his research unmatched, and the story captivating.”
— Jennifer Brown, bookpleasures.com

“For anyone interested in the science of mind and body, The Lobotomist is surely a reading must.”
— Louis C. Martin, Science and Theology News

“The moment Walter Freeman's gaze lands on an ice pick in his kitchen drawer, you know you're in for a rollicking ride. This is the biography not just of Walter Freeman but of the lobotomy, a procedure as bizarre and tragic and compelling as Freeman himself. Impressively researched and even-handed, El-Hai's book unravels the man inside the monster. A fascinating read.”
— Mary Roach, author of The New York Times bestseller Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

“Good biographers must keep an open mind, to avoid stereotyping and reductionism. Fortunately, El-Hai turns out to be a good biographer.”
—Steve Weinberg, The Philadelphia Inquirer

“This captivating book chronicles the life of a man who brought showmanship to science, and touched the grey matter of a generation of mentally ill patients. Part genius, part maniac, Freeman changed forever the way we understand the link between mind and brain, and though his procedures are discredited, his biological approach to mental illness is ascendant. No history of modern psychiatry is complete without this story.”
— Andrew Solomon, author of the National Book Award-winning The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression

“Who would predict that a book about a brutal, discredited brain operation could be such fun? But The Lobotomist IS fun — for those of us whose idea of fun is having our most cherished beliefs turned on their heads. Jack El-Hai has done a masterful job of bringing to life a brilliant, slightly cruel, wholly original scientist whose contribution to the treatment of mental illness has too long been misunderstood.”
— Robin Marantz Henig, author of Pandora's Baby: How the First Test Tube Babies Sparked the Reproductive Revolution

“Vividly written and meticulously researched, The Lobotomist is thoughtful and absorbing biography. With skill and grace, Jack El-Hai lays bare the life and obsessions of one of the most controversial figures in American medical history. A terrific read!”
— Dave Isay, award-winning National Public Radio producer and MacArthur Fellow

“Notorious barely begins to describe the lobotomy, one of the most controversial medical procedures ever known. Jack El-Hai makes its rise understandable at last by bringing to life the complicated, all-too-human doctor who built his career on promoting the lobotomy. This is a lucid and thoughtful account of a remarkable chapter in the history of medicine.”
- T.J. Stiles, author of Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War



ISBN: 0470098309	See the PBS American Experience television documentary partly based on The Lobotomist. This groundbreaking new biography takes readers into one of the darkest chapters of American medicine — the desperate attempt to treat the hundreds of thousands of psychiatric patients in need of help during the middle decades of the twentieth century. Before the introduction of effective psychiatric medication in the 1950s, patients often had no choice other than to accept confinement in crowded and horrific asylums, or to submit to dangerous “shock” therapies. Into this crisis stepped Walter Freeman, a neurologist and psychiatrist who believed he saw a way out of this quagmire. At a time when Freudian psychoanalysis and other “talk” therapies were growing ascendant, he advocated a completely different type of treatment — a brain operation intended to reduce the severity of psychotic symptoms. In partnership with neurosurgeon James Watts, Freeman adopted the surgical technique of a little known Portuguese physician, rechristened it lobotomy , and began performing the operation in the United States. In time, he transformed lobotomy into a controversial outpatient procedure, traveled the world performing psychosurgeries, and devoted his life to tracking the recovery of his patients. Meanwhile, his personal life collapsed around him. As gripping as a medical thriller, The Lobotomist examines the motivations of a man whose personality combined brilliance with arrogance, compassion with egotism, and determination with stubbornness. The result is an unforgettable portrait of a physician who permanently shaped the lives of his patients, as well as the course of medical history. The Lobotomist has already received a great deal of media attention, including reviews and articles in The New York Times, Discover Magazine, the San Jose Mercury-News, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Seattle Times, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the Ottawa Citizen, and the Newark Star-Ledger, among others. Here’s a sampling of the praise: “Jack El-Hai has written an absorbing, unsettling and cautionary story of the man who sold the lowly ice pick as the surgical solution to the mental illness of tens of thousands of people…. The author, a respected science journalist, started his research assuming that Freeman was akin to Josef Mengele. He ends this book with a nuanced, haunted view of his subject… With The Lobotomist, El-Hai gives his readers a first-class biography and, without saying so, a tutorial in the sober need for professional humility.” — Karen R. Long, Cleveland Plain Dealer “In The Lobotomist, Jack El-Hai's lively biography, Freeman comes across as a classic American type, a do-gooder and a go-getter with a bit of the huckster thrown in.” — William Grimes, The New York Times “One of the many virtues of El-Hai's text is the rich detail he provides about Freeman's life and ideas. His readers will thus be able to judge Walter Freeman for themselves and decide whether he is, as El-Hai would have it, "a maverick medical genius" or, as others have concluded, a moral monster.” — Andrew Scull, The Los Angeles Times “A story of desperation among thousands of patients, families, clinicians and policymakers struggling to manage a population seemingly crippled by illnesses for which there was no help. It is also a worrisome account of physicians groping for solutions to problems that they could not adequately address. In this sense, El-Hai’s treatment of this medical saga is also poignant and illuminating.” — Richard Lipkin, Scientific American Mind “Relying heavily upon Freeman's notes, letters, and journals, El-Hai reconstructs the life of a man whose main mission, aside from personal glory, was to help the helpless… Driven, egotistical, brilliant, and focused, Freeman is as fascinating as the chronicle of twentieth-century psychiatry in which El-Hai sets his story.” — Donna Chavez, Booklist “There are more curious characters than Freeman in the annals of medical history, but few are so curiously American.” — Verlyn Klinkenborg, Discover Magazine “A moving portrait of failed greatness… El-Hai’s book succeeds as both an empathetic, nuanced portrait of one of America’s most complex public figures and as a record of the cultural shifts that have occurred in the treatment of mental illness over the last century.” — Publishers Weekly “According to freelance journalist El-Hai, Walter Freeman (1895-1972) was ‘the most scorned physician of the twentieth century’ except for Nazi Josef Mengele. In this first biography, he deftly chronicles the rise and fall of Freeman and the procedure he championed.” — Library Journal “Parts of The Lobotomist can best be read curled in a fetal position, but the reader would be well-advised to make the effort to wade through the relievedly short gruesome passages. That’s because Walter Jackson Freeman is a man worth getting to know, a classic American archetype of genius whose one crucial idea is wielded over and over again.” — Sam Stowe, California Literary Review “El-Hai’s story of Walter Freeman is a spell-binding and sometimes frightening view of the mental health profession just a few decades ago…. El-Hai’s writing is flawless, his research unmatched, and the story captivating.” — Jennifer Brown, bookpleasures.com “For anyone interested in the science of mind and body, The Lobotomist is surely a reading must.” — Louis C. Martin, Science and Theology News “The moment Walter Freeman's gaze lands on an ice pick in his kitchen drawer, you know you're in for a rollicking ride. This is the biography not just of Walter Freeman but of the lobotomy, a procedure as bizarre and tragic and compelling as Freeman himself. Impressively researched and even-handed, El-Hai's book unravels the man inside the monster. A fascinating read.” — Mary Roach, author of The New York Times bestseller Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers “Good biographers must keep an open mind, to avoid stereotyping and reductionism. Fortunately, El-Hai turns out to be a good biographer.” —Steve Weinberg, The Philadelphia Inquirer “This captivating book chronicles the life of a man who brought showmanship to science, and touched the grey matter of a generation of mentally ill patients. Part genius, part maniac, Freeman changed forever the way we understand the link between mind and brain, and though his procedures are discredited, his biological approach to mental illness is ascendant. No history of modern psychiatry is complete without this story.” — Andrew Solomon, author of the National Book Award-winning The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression “Who would predict that a book about a brutal, discredited brain operation could be such fun? But The Lobotomist IS fun — for those of us whose idea of fun is having our most cherished beliefs turned on their heads. Jack El-Hai has done a masterful job of bringing to life a brilliant, slightly cruel, wholly original scientist whose contribution to the treatment of mental illness has too long been misunderstood.” — Robin Marantz Henig, author of Pandora's Baby: How the First Test Tube Babies Sparked the Reproductive Revolution “Vividly written and meticulously researched, The Lobotomist is thoughtful and absorbing biography. With skill and grace, Jack El-Hai lays bare the life and obsessions of one of the most controversial figures in American medical history. A terrific read!” — Dave Isay, award-winning National Public Radio producer and MacArthur Fellow “Notorious barely begins to describe the lobotomy, one of the most controversial medical procedures ever known. Jack El-Hai makes its rise understandable at last by bringing to life the complicated, all-too-human doctor who built his career on promoting the lobotomy. This is a lucid and thoughtful account of a remarkable chapter in the history of medicine.” - T.J. Stiles, author of Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War

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