The Woman Who Can't Forget

The title for this book is a misnomer. The author doesn't have the most remarkable memory known to science, just a "superabundant autobiographical" one of which little study has previously been made. This happens to be the actual conclusion of the book itself. Jill Price is a New York born, Jewish Encino girl who goes to Westlake, Holmby Hills high school in Los Angeles. During those adolescent years she has some traumatizing experiences. These events trigger various obsessive compulsions which in turn lead to more serious bouts of depression. Price admits that she is superstitious (p. 224) and therefore susceptible to negative suggestion. She makes no essential connection to why her mother's family would, years earlier, use a Ouija show more board (p. 71) and not situate that as a possible source of her oppressive anxieties. This book seems to be the result of her coming to terms with her muted inability to cease constant recall of past experiences. Price seems to have benefited greatly from her exposure to individual therapy, and acquaintance with generalized psychological theories of memory. In particular, she is drawn to McAdams' theory of personal myth as a guide to purposeful coping and living as a framework for her own proclivities of memory. The book is a tangible record of her journey to claim the indescribable experiences she was imprisoned by for so many years. This book would be of interest to those who have a question about their own issues with past traumatic memories. The science of Price's case itself would be briefly covered by reading the actual journal article in 'Neurocase'. I found the last chapters intriguing, especially with hospital medical board where her husband would soon be donating his organs. Glossary, notes on source material, but no index. Bart Davis is to be commended for reworking this into a presentable format. show less

Mrs. Price seems to define herself by only her remarkable memory, which turns out to be far, far less interesting than it seems. Her ability to remember (or: inability to forget) is a constant intruder.
Unfortunately, the book is a dull read. She spends half her time complaining of what a torment it is to remember everything and the other half reflecting on how scary & awful it must be for the normals who forget things.
"Oh," she laments, "if I could teach myself to remember only the happy things!" - as though no one else has bad memories. We normals have the added frailty of forgetting the happy things, too.

There is something to be learned from it, perhaps, about loss, and finally about growing up. If it hadn't taken Price 40 years to show more learn those lessons, her book would be more worthwhile. show less

Jill Price can remember everything she did and any major or minor events that took place on any date from the time she was about 11 years old. Before that, she remembers some, starting from when she was 2- or 3-years old. Problem is, the memories bombard her all the time; it just doesn’t turn off. When she was younger, she didn’t know this wasn’t the case for everyone. But, as she got older and tried to explain, people didn’t understand.

Her memories include both the good and the bad, everything. This book explains what’s going on in her head, then goes back to explain how it has affected her at various points throughout her life.

I found this really interesting. I don’t understand the low ratings, though from reading show more reviews, it seems like some didn’t like the biography/memoir part of the book, but I thought that really illustrated things. Apparently, she was the first person (in the early 2000s?) diagnosed with this: what they called “hyperthymestic syndrome”, but there are others now, as well. Scientists have been studying her (and she seems happy to have them do so to figure out how her brain works), and papers have been written about her, using a pseudonym. show less

It was shocking to me that a memoir about having a singularly unique neurological condition could be so horrifically boring. If you are interested in the boring life story of a privileged but vapid girl, go ahead, but if you want to hear about the science of memory, avoid this book.

What seemed to be an interesting topic, that of a person with a superior memory, turned into one boring book. Jill Price has a superior autobiographical memory which allows her to remember with astonishing accuracy days of the week, dates, and years and those associated events of her life and around her. Unfortunately, this book became almost a recitation of those dates; then later turned into a memoir of sorts. Neither of those were particularly interesting to me. What I would have liked, in lieu of how this book had been written, would have been more information about this condition in a more coherently written story or one which put forth the medical details as the life of the author was being revealed.

Interesting in some areas, but at times the book was hard to follow. Given the facts that the author disclosed made it confusing overall. The thought of never forgetting things that have happened in your lifetime is intriguing. But the fact is that we all remember what we want to remember and forget what we want to forget.

science/memoir (on audio). Good narration and storytelling (interesting anecdotes, etc.)