by Jill Price
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Product Description
Jill Price has the first diagnosed case of a memory condition called "hyperthymestic syndrome" -- the continuous, automatic, autobiographical recall of every day of her life since she was fourteen. Give her any date from that year on, and she can almost instantly tell you what day of the week it was, what she did on that day, and any major world event or cultural happening that took place, as long as she heard about it that day. Her memories are like scenes from home movies, constantly playing in her head, backward and forward, through the years; not only does she make no effort to call her memories to mind, she cannot stop them. The Woman Who Can't Forget is the beautifully written and moving story of Jill's quest to come to terms with her extraordinary memory, living with a condition that no one understood, including her, until the scientific team who studied her finally charted the extraordinary terrain of her abilities. Her fascinating journey speaks volumes about the delicate dance of remembering and forgetting in all of our lives and the many mysteries about how our memories shape us. As we learn of Jill's struggles first to realize how unusual her memory is and then to contend, as she grows up, with the unique challenges of not being able to forget -- remembering both the good times and the bad, the joyous and the devastating, in such vivid and insistent detail -- the way her memory works is contrasted to a wealth of discoveries about the workings of normal human memory and normal human forgetting. Intriguing light is shed on the vital role of what's called "motivated forgetting"; as well as theories about childhood amnesia, the loss of memory for the first two to three years of our lives; the emotional content of memories; and the way in which autobiographical memories are normally crafted into an ever-evolving and empowering life story. Would we want to remember so much more of our lives if we could? Which memories do our minds privilege over others? Do we truly relive the times we remember most vividly, feeling the emotions that coursed through us then? Why do we forget so much, and in what ways do the workings of memory tailor the reality of what's actually happened to us in our lives? In The Woman Who Can't Forget, Jill Price welcomes us into her remarkable life and takes us on a mind-opening voyage into what life would be like if we didn't forget -- a voyage after which no reader will think of the magical role of memory in our lives in the same way again.
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Average Customer Review:
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
 You Can Do It, Too, 2008-06-22
Seeing this fascinating woman's story lead me to the discovery of my life: how anyone can improve brain function without medicine or surgery that starts working immediately and only improves as you practice. When Jill Price, "The Woman Who Can't Forget" was cat scanned, we learned one area of her brain was used more than other persons used it. When she was 8, she TRAINED her brain to organize memories by date, just by telling her brain to do so.
All of us have more than one "channel" of brain thoughts going simultaneously. My real time thoughts are interrupted constantly over the two survival techniques humans require: where are we getting our next food (for survival of the self) and where are we getting our next sex (for survival of the species). In addition I had interruptions from negative thoughts of remembered experiences and regrets. When these memories are of painful events, they can interfere with or disable normal function.
The solution? TELL YOUR BRAIN TO OPEN ANOTHER CHANNEL. That's it. I had already used this technique to solve lifelong inexplicable questions. I would tell myself before I went to sleep to send me the answers in a dream or daydream. And it worked! I once got the answer to a problem that arose before I was old enough to verbalize what was happening -- right in the middle of a busy expressway!
After reading Jills story, I told myself to open a "happy" channel. Whenever a negative thought arose, I immediately replace it with a happy thought (too personal to give examples). You can have two (maybe even more) channels open at all times if you practice for "being here now", the past, overcoming the past, and the future - simultaneously as you direct. Try it, youll like it -- and thank you Jill!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
 The woman who can't forget, 2008-06-14
A good book written by a normal person who has an extraordinary gift/curse. There is a lot of information and insight into the different kinds of memory, both theory and fact- not to mention this woman's unique version and experiences.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
The Blessing and the Curse of Memory, 2008-05-19
Most of us take the ability to remember for granted in a sense. We are fascinated by those who can remember well, and bemoan the loss of our own memories, often attributing such things to the ravages of age. And having seen the horrible effects of Alzheimer's firsthand through my late Grandmother, watching someone slowly robbed of their very soul as their memories are eaten away is a slow and painful process I pray no one ever has to witness. But what we don't realize that some things are best forgotten, or at least dulled by the passage of time. It is in much of that which we forget that allows us to evolve and grow. Just because we don't remember the particulars of an event doesn't mean they don't have lasting effects on us that, ultimately, make us smarter, stronger human beings. But imagine if you never forgot those things...
When I first saw Jill Price's story on ABC's 20/20, I immediately purchased and downloaded the book to my Kindle Reading Device because it seemed like such a fascinating story. Price suffers from the first documented case of "hyperthymestic syndrome", which refers to the continuous, automatic, autobiographical recall of every day of her life. On the surface one would think that such an ability is a gift, a blessing that every unsuspecting person wishes they had been given.
But as Jill Price takes us through her life journey, we discover the bitter that inevitably goes along with the seemingly sweet. Her syndrome is great in that it allows her to forever relive the most wonderful moments of her life, like meeting and falling in love with her one true love. But imagine when that also means the inability to escape the most embarrassing or painful moments of your life, like the sudden death of this very man of your dreams. Price's memory are vivid and potent, carrying with them not only the clear visuals of every recorded event, but the feelings, sounds, and smells of the moment as well. Childhood fears, though adulthood allows her to put rational perspective upon them, are still as powerful as when she was a child. And although she has the ability to call upon whatever memory she wishes at the prompting of a date, the memories also can come upon her unbidden, and cannot simply be dismissed the way one would change the television set if you don't like what's airing one channel.We've all heard of people who dwell on the past, as well as those who only live in the now. But for Jill Price, there is little distinction between the two, and the only thing more extraordinary than the life journey she's traveled so far is the fact that she's seemingly come through it sane and whole.
The book is not only a great biography about a woman dealing with an extraordinary ability that she's only recently found scientific explanations for, but Price also provides a lot of background information about how the mind and memory work, and how they play such vital roles in the people we become.
I found it a very compelling read, and I think you will too.
- Gregory Bernard Banks, author, reader, reviewer
18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
Ever Wished for A Perfect Recall of Names, Faces or Events? Maybe That Wouldn't be Such a Great Thing... , 2008-05-12
This is a fascinating glimpse into the world of a person who has a perfect memory. If you feel the slightest bit skeptical about this, Jill Price was put through intensive testing, along with several other people. Not only could she recall exact dates but the tiniest bits of info about what happened on those days, including what amounted to her entire life, way beyond the norms of human memory. She'd also kept a diary for years.
Other people were also tested and diagnosed with this special, probably rare, condition...and this is what makes this book so interesting. Even though Jill Price isn't the only person known to have "perfect recall or memory", her personality is unique. She tends to see her inability to forget as a curse as much as a blessing, one that often haunts and torments her.
I'd read books about other people with a similar condition but they were autistic, sometimes called idiot savants, and often lacked basic skills that were considered normal. Jill Price was the first person who seems normal in many ways but also has this extraordinary memory. I couldn't help wanting to know how a child copes with this and grows up being so different from those around her. This book was a fascinating biography as well as illuminating about the mysteries of memory, recall and the advantages of those with average abilities to remember things. Until I read this book, I often rued my inability to remember a person's name, face or a particular movie title. I've changed my perspective.
Sometimes being able to forget can be a blessing.
22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
I won't forget this book!, 2008-05-10
We all have days we wish we could forget. If we think back, I'm sure we also have memories that have escaped us from long ago which we wish we could remember.
Jill Price is a unique person, the first, who can honestly say she can't forget a single day, and has little or no problem with those memories the rest of us cling to.
Jill has a memory condition called "hyperthymestic syndrome" and believe it or not she can recall headlines, deaths, birthdays, holidays, tragedies, worldwide news, and even her own everyday activities from every single day of her life since she was just 14 years old.
In a recent interview with Diane Sawyer, Jill gave the dates and days of the week certain events happened that Diane called out at random from the death of Elvis to the date of Reagan's first inauguration. She is not always 100% right, but is usually not off by more than 7 days. Imagine being able to recall every single Christmas you've experienced, and all from memory.
Jill's story is extraordinary. As you read her memoir, you'll ask yourself, "is this a curse or a blessing?" Is it a gift you'd want to be blessed with? Jill has adjusted well to it. Her life has been unique. She has loved and lost. Scientists have studied her, but through it all she has learned to cope and adapt to this bizarre wonder.
You will be touched by her words, and you certainly won't forget them!
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