Anesthesia: The Gift of Oblivion and the Mystery of Consciousness, Paperback

"An obsessive, mystical, terrifying, and even phantasmagorical exploration of anesthesia's shadowy terra incognita." --The New Yorker

Anesthetize: to render insensible

First there's the injection, then the countdown--and next thing you know, you're awake. Anesthesia: The Gift of Oblivion and the Mystery of Consciousness is the story of the time in between. It explores that most crucial and baffling gift of modern medicine: the disappearing act that enables us to undergo procedures that would otherwise be impossibly, often fatally, painful. Haunting, lyrical, sometimes shattering, Kate Cole-Adams leavens science with personal experience, and brings an intensely human curiosity to the unknowable realm beyond consciousness.

KATE COLE-ADAMS is a journalist and novelist. Her debut novel, Walking to the Moon, was published in 2008. She lives in Melbourne with her family.