Welcome back to another year of Between the Lines (BTL) and this column, “Calling All Verbivores” (CAV). CAV is addressed to those described by Richard Lederer’s term “verbivore.” To quote myself, “A verbivore is one who devours words, one who revels in chewing, gnawing, nibbling them, rolling them round ones mouth, and dribbling them down ones chin.” If that describes you, keep reading BTL and the succeeding numbers of this column. Or, if you are a new reader of BTL, look into the archived issues on this website to catch up on what you have been missing.

Let’s get down to business. Have you ever heard of alexia sine agraphia? No? Well, neither had I until rather recently. I must admit that I did not come across it as the result of burning curiosity or relentless quest for knowledge. No, I stumbled across it by pulling down a mystery novel from the New Books shelf at the library. I confess that the reading that I do for relaxation is dominated by mystery novels. This particular one was Memory Book by Howard Engel (New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2006). In it Engel’s protagonist, Benny Cooperman, is afflicted with alexia sine agraphia as the result of a severe blow to his head. The mystery he is trying to solve is how he received that blow. One of the results of the injury is memory loss, but his quest is complicated by the alexia sine agraphia.

Benny’s condition is described in the “Afterword” to the book, contributed by Oliver Sacks, M.D. Sacks is the neurologist probably best known as the author of The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Awakenings. Let’s break down the Latin name of the disorder. “Alexia” means the inability to read, from “lexia” (reading) and the negative prefix “a” (compare to “dyslexia,” difficulty in reading). More particularly, Sacks describes it as, “an inability to read resulting from damage to a particular area of the occipital cortex, the visual part of the brain.” (Afterword, p. 238) Such damage could be the result of either a blow to the head or a stroke. “Sine” means “without.” “Agraphia” means the inability to write. So we have “alexia sine agraphia” as the name of the particular disorder entailing the inability to read but without the inability to write.

Given our understandable habit of conjoining reading and writing, that may seem a highly strange, if not unbelievable, situation. Nonetheless, as attested by Dr. Sacks, it is clinically known and defined. In fact, Howard Engel, the author of Memory Book, is a sufferer of this disorder. He had contacted Dr. Sacks about his condition, which connection led to Dr. Sacks writing the Afterword to the novel. The onset of Engel’s condition had been caused by a small stroke. Although alexia sine agraphia may be accompanied by other visual problems in addition to the alexia, it is not in itself an impairment of sight. The subject can see quite clearly. The problem is that the words, clearly seen as they may be, cannot be interpreted. They may appear to the subject to be an unfamiliar foreign language. As Dr. Sacks writes, “alexia sine agraphia is a classic example of what neurologists call a dissociation, or a disconnection syndrome.” (Op. cit., 240). In other words, there has been a disconnection between two brain activities in a portion of the occipital cortex, the visual part of the brain. That the disorder is, indeed, a purely visual problem is confirmed by the fact that persons with alexia can recognize letters or words traced on their hands (Ibid.)

Imagine the challenge faced by Engel in continuing to write. He could write, but he could not read what he had written. One might be able to rely on memory to produce short pieces, but that would not suffice for a novel. He met this part of the challenge by having his editor read the text to him. He could then fix the text in his memory in order to rework it. (Op. cit., 243) Great credit is due him, his therapists, and his editor for his accomplishment in producing Memory Book. He has opened for us a strange new world of human experience by describing Benny going through the same processes he (Engel) had gone through. Engel has since written yet another Benny Cooperman novel.

Reading Memory Book caused me to reflect on language, reading, speech, and all of what is going on in our heads when we learn and use language. It has made me very grateful for the gift of reading and left me in awe of all the incredibly complex relationships involved in brain activity. All that and a fascinating tale of mystery made that serendipitous selection of one new book from shelves of others one that enriched me immensely.

By the way, the announcement of the 2006 results of the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest has recently appeared. If you know what that contest is, you, no doubt, have been awaiting that announcement. If you don’t know, then you should look into it. In either case, the results can be found at this URL: http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/english/2006.htm.

Until next time, send me your solutions (or suggestions or complaints or stumpers) at hfox@juno.com or 2005 Burroughs Drive, Dayton, Ohio 45406.