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How to Use a Fork

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How to Use a Fork

Written by: Dr Orlando Swayne
Narrated by: Justin Avoth
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‘Deserves to join Oliver Sacks and Henry Marsh on the list of top popular neuroscience writers’ Melanie Reid, The Times
‘Beautifully observed, beautifully written . . .’ Rory Stewart
‘Intensely moving and awe-inspiring’ Marina Hyde
‘A tribute to the spirit of people faced with calamity’ Literary Review

Every ninety seconds someone is admitted to hospital in the UK with a brain injury. From the woman who thought her arm was a baby, to the man who saw mannequins peering at him through the dark, these are the remarkable stories of resilience and recovery behind the statistics.

As a medical student, Orlando Swayne was taught that a broken brain never mends. But as a junior doctor, he began to meet patients for whom this was clearly not the case: people learning to speak again to the people they love, regaining lost mobility, even using a fork. Delving into the emerging neuroscience of brain reorganisation, he discovered the extraordinary ways that the brain can adapt after injury, and that shattered lives can be rebuilt.

Irresistible to anyone curious about the mysteries of the brain, How to Use a Fork is a moving and profound journey to the outer reaches of human experience that asks the question: what makes us who we are?

©2026 Orlando Swayne Neuroscience & Neuropsychology Physical Illness & Disease Psychology Psychology & Mental Health
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Critic Reviews

Beautifully observed, beautifully written, full of intelligence, empathy, and imagination, an extraordinary journey in science, medicine, and creativity (Rory Stewart)
An incredible voyage of discovery . . . intensely moving and awe-inspiring (Marina Hyde)
A book full of hope and optimism . . . For his humanity, and his exciting, innovative work, I think Swayne deserves to join Oliver Sacks and Henry Marsh on the list of top popular neuroscience writers (Melanie Reid)
Full of detailed reality and devoid of theatricality ... at times poetic . .. a tribute to the spirit of people faced with calamity
A master-class in clinical observation, witty, modest and enthralling. In these dispatches from the front-line of neuro-rehabilitation, Orlando Swayne offers love, joy, and humanity with the eye of a reporter and the soul of a poet. In the strange, sad world of broken brains, this will become a shaft of light and hope (Robert McCrum, author of My Year Off: Rediscovering Life After a Stroke)
It's like walking hand in hand with Dr Swayne and his patients, which made me ache with hope that even in the darkest places you can find your way back (Abi Morgan)
'Enjoyable, instructive and humane. It is a welcome addition to the noble tradition of Oliver Sacks . . . Neuroscience, medicine and vulnerable humanity woven together in intricate and compelling tales from the front line (Professor Ian Robertson, author of How Confidence Works)
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