{"product_id":"2940169380583","title":"Hallucinations","description":"\u003cp\u003eHave you ever seen something that wasn't really there? Heard someone   call your name in an empty house? Sensed someone following you and   turned around to find nothing?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Hallucinations don't belong  wholly to the insane. Much more commonly,  they are linked to sensory  deprivation, intoxication, illness, or  injury. People with migraines may  see shimmering arcs of light or tiny,  Lilliputian figures of animals  and people. People with failing  eyesight, paradoxically, may become  immersed in a hallucinatory visual  world. Hallucinations can be brought  on by a simple fever or even the  act of waking or falling asleep, when  people have visions ranging from  luminous blobs of color to beautifully  detailed faces or terrifying  ogres. Those who are bereaved may receive  comforting \"visits\" from the  departed. In some conditions,  hallucinations can lead to religious  epiphanies or even the feeling of  leaving one's own body. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Humans have always sought such  life-changing visions, and for  thousands of years have used  hallucinogenic compounds to achieve them.  As a young doctor in  California in the 1960s, Oliver Sacks had both a  personal and a  professional interest in psychedelics. These, along with  his early  migraine experiences, launched a lifelong investigation into  the  varieties of hallucinatory experience. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Here, with his usual  elegance, curiosity, and compassion, Dr. Sacks  weaves together stories  of his patients and of his own mind-altering  experiences to illuminate  what hallucinations tell us about the  organization and structure of our  brains, how they have influenced  every culture's folklore and art, and  why the potential for  hallucination is present in us all, a vital part  of the human  condition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47162066272496,"sku":"2940169380583","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940169380583_p0.jpg?v=1763781496","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940169380583","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}