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Missives from a neurosurgeon How complicated is brain surgery actually? A doctor reveals the myths and realities of his profession Gray Matters . By Theodore Schwartz. Dutton; 512 pages; $32. Oneworld; £25 Neurosurgeons are typically portrayed in one of two ways in popular culture. One is as a brilliant, if arrogant, boffin. These doctors are intellectuals (it is brain surgery, after all) who have very little social life. Think of Dr Jack Shephard, the protagonist of “Lost”, a television series, or Doctor Strange, a Marvel character. The other common depiction is as a mad scientist. At best, these characters perform unethical surgeries and, at worst, become cannibalistic serial killers, such as Hannibal Lecter. But these portrayals miss much of what modern neurosurgery really is, argues Theodore Schwartz, a neurosurgeon and professor at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York. “Gray Matters”, an engrossing new book, goes on a tour through different types of brain surgery, from seem
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