A curious combination of memoir and reportage, Brain on Fire tells of the author's dealing with a mysterious illness that causes her to lose her "self". While there isn't as much mystery as one might like, as we know Cahalan survived her ordeal and was able to write the present book, I think she does a good job of showing how important medical research and continuing education are to the treatment of patients (not to mention good beside manner). Also, to her credit, she acknowledges how lucky she was in getting to the right place at the right time for help, and that not everyone is that fortunate. I liked the book and would read more of her work.