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THE MYSTERY OF THE EXPLODING TEETH

Name: THE MYSTERY OF THE EXPLODING TEETH
Author: Thomas Morris
ISBN: 978-1-5247-4368-0

AND OTHER CURIOSITIES FROM THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE

by Thomas Morris ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 13, 2018

Amusing and often painful items best taken in small doses.

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A Ripley-esque collection of “compellingly disgusting, hilarious, or downright bizarre” medical oddities.

British journalist and medical historian Morris (The Matter of the Heart: A History of the Heart in Eleven Operations, 2018), a regular writer for the Lancet, scoured 300 years of medical literature’s “little-known corners” to ferret out 60-plus cases that reach the level of believe-it-or-not’s. “Every one of these cases says something about the beliefs and knowledge of an earlier age,” he writes. He presents the cases in anecdotal fashion, with numerous quotes from the published articles, accompanied by the author’s witty and often humorous, colloquial commentary. The cases are divided into seven sections, including “Mysterious Illnesses,” “Horrifying Operations,” and “Remarkable Recoveries.” In the “Unfortunate Predicaments” file, we find the 1823 case of a sailor who, when sufficiently inebriated, would swallow clasp-knives “for a laugh.” He once swallowed three in succession and, at another time, over two days, 14; ultimately, 35 in all: “Dear oh dear. Will he never learn?” Most passed, but some, an autopsy revealed, remained, partially digested. Then there’s the 1827 case of a boy “who got his wick stuck in a candlestick.” He was unable to urinate, so they finally operated, and an enormous jet of urine “projected” onto the doctor. “Charming.” Like quirky Perry Mason book titles, the list unwinds: the boy who vomited his own twin, the case of the luminous patients, the case of the drunken Dutchman’s guts, the self-inflicted lithotripsy, the combustible countess, the death of a 152-year-old, the human waxwork, the amphibious infant, and the man killed by his false teeth. In 1857, San Francisco surgeon Dr. Elias Samuel Cooper performed a two-plus-hour heart surgery, an “unthinkable” feat. He removed a piece of metal from beneath a beating heart while the patient “was fully conscious.” For its time, Morris writes, “there is virtually nothing to match this operation for complexity and sheer jeopardy.”

Amusing and often painful items best taken in small doses.

Pub Date: Nov. 13, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-5247-4368-0

Page Count: 368

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: Sept. 2, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2018

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.