About this item
Head Cases takes us into the dark side of the brain in an astonishing sequence of stories, at once true and strange, from the world of brain damage. Michael Paul Mason is one of an elite group of experts who coordinate care in the complicated aftermath of tragic injuries that can last a lifetime. On the road with Mason, we encounter survivors of brain injuries as they struggle to map and make sense of the new worlds they inhabit.Underlying each of these survivors stories is an exploration of the brain and its mysteries. When injured, the brain must figure out how to heal itself, reorganizing its physiology in order to do the job. Mason gives us a series of vivid glimpses into brain science, the last frontier of medicine, and we come away in awe of the miracles of the brains workings and astonished at the fragility of the brain and the sense of self, life, and order that resides there. Head Cases "[achieves] through sympathy and curiosity insight like that which pulses through genuine literature" (The New York Sun) ; it is at once illuminating and deeply affecting.
About the Author
Michael Mason is an editor, writer, speaker, and journalist based in Tulsa. His works have appeared in several newspapers and magazines, including Discover, The New York Times, and The Believer. Mason has also appeared as a guest on several national media outlets, including the Lehrer Newshour, CBS News, NPR's Morning Edition and The Diane Rehm Show. In 2010, he founded This Land Press, Oklahoma's first New Media company, and serves as its editor.Mason's assignments have taken him into the Iraqi war zone, behind Vatican walls, and into aftermath of the World Trade Center. Along the way, he has built a reputation for noteworthy journalism. When Mason's article, "Dead Men Walking," appeared in Discover magazine, it ignited a national debate about the treatment of brain injured soldiers.Mason's first book, Head Cases: Stories of Brain Injury and Its Aftermath, is an exploration into the harsh realities endured by brain injury survivors. Since the publication of Head Cases, he has maintained a role as one of the country's leading advocates for people with brain injury-he has addressed the Congressional Task Force on Brain Injury and has served as president of the Brain Injury Association of Oklahoma.A native of Oklahoma, Mason has a long history of involvement in the Tulsa community. He has been a past president of the Tulsa Artist Coalition, and founded the popular cult journal Me Head, which reached more than 300,000 readers a month online. He has written articles for both the Tulsa World and The Oklahoman. He regularly speaks at local events, such as the John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Symposium, and dedicates much of his editorial efforts at This Land Press toward community improvement.Mason is also a member of the PEN American Center. He has served as a board member of the Academy of Certified Brain Injury Specialists and as a past president of the Brain Injury Association of Oklahoma, and he has sat on two advisory councils committed to the bettering of treatment for veterans with brain injury.In addition to his writing projects, Mason has produced several feature works that have played on public radio stations across the nation. In a project with Tulsa author Jeff Martin, Mason produced one of Oklahoma's most popular podcasts, "Goodbye Tulsa," a show that told the story of Tulsa through the lives of its citizens. Through This Land Press, Mason continues to produce audio content oriented to life in middle America.In the fall of 2010, Mason left his job as a brain injury case manager to devote his energies to This Land Press. In its first several months of publication, This Land Press achieved international recognition for its journalism. Mason is currently at work on a non-fiction book called The Human Assembly: The Discovery, History, and Industry of our Parts, Tissues, and Organs, to be published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
