How to Use a Fork

Name: How to Use a Fork
Price: 42 AUD
Availability: PreOrder
ISBN: 9781035064335

Stories of Mending the Broken Brain

Orlando Swayne

$42

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Picador
16 June 2026

Physiological & neuro-psychology, biopsychology; Doctor patient relationship; Neurology & clinical neurophysiology; Neurosurgery; Neurosciences

'An incredible voyage of discovery . . . intensely moving and awe-inspiring' - Marina Hyde 'A moving, thoughtful and truly fascinating read' - Abi Morgan, author of This is Not a Pity Memoir 'Witty, modest and enthralling' - Robert McCrum, author of My Year Off

In How to Use a Fork, the beautiful science of brain plasticity meets remarkable human stories of survival and recovery. We discover the woman who thought her arm was a baby, the man who saw mannequins peering at him through the dark, and the patient who found his way back to human interaction through music.

As a medical student, Orlando Swayne was taught that a broken brain doesn't mend. But as a junior doctor, he began to meet patients for whom this was clearly not the case. Intrigued by what he saw, he delved deep into the emerging neuroscience of brain reorganisation, and discovered that over time brain tissue creates new networks and regenerates.

Developments in neurology continue to reveal new capabilities that allow functions we thought to be lost to be restored. The key to recovery, a return to some semblance of our previous selves after brain injury, lies in neurorehabilitation: painstaking work that rebuilds shattered lives.

Irresistible to anyone who is curious about the mysteries of the brain, How to Use a Fork is a fascinating journey into the outer reaches of human experience.

By: Orlando Swayne
Imprint: Picador
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 153mm,
ISBN: 9781035064335
ISBN 10: 1035064332
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 16 June 2026
Recommended Age: From 18 years
Audience: General/trade , Professional and scholarly , ELT Advanced , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Orlando Swayne is a consultant neurologist who works primarily in the neurorehabilitation of acquired brain injury, including stroke, but who also has a wide general neurology practice. He is a consultant neurologist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN), where he leads the Neurorehabilitation Unit, and is a member of the Department of Brain Repair and Rehabilitation at the UCL Institute of Neurology. He also works at Northwick Park Hospital and the Wellington Hospital. He has published widely on the control of movement by the brain and the role of brain plasticity in recovery following stroke. How to Use a Fork is his first book.

Reviews for How to Use a Fork: Stories of Mending the Broken Brain

'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 <i>How Confidence Works</i> 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 An incredible voyage of discovery . . . intensely moving and awe-inspiring -- Marina Hyde