Super Short Summary

Scar Tissue by Michael Ignatieff follows a philosophy professor as he observes his mother’s struggle with dementia, interweaving childhood memories, familial reflections, and philosophical meditations on life’s transience. Inspired by Ignatieff’s personal experiences, the story spans the mother’s decline into mental illness and includes the narrator’s contemplations on mortality and heredity. The novel addresses the impacts of mental illness and chronic disease on individuals and their families.