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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
Awesome book! Times may change but man's insatiable need to believe, it doesn't really matter what, will almost always override common sense. This example seems almost too unreal to be true.
An Advance Reader's Copy I picked up a while back; this one is genuinely weird - the true story of quack medicine in the 1920s and 1930s, especially the story of J.R. Brinkley and his operations implanting goat testicles into men . . .
There's a goat on the cover for a good reason. The subject, fake doctor J.R. Brinkley, made a fortune by performing, among other things, goat testicle transplants to humans. This was widely known in the 20's, and it's hard to believe the American collective brain has forgotten him so quickly. This man was one of the richest and most famous people in the country. He owned the most powerful radio station in the world and introduced listeners to the Carter family. He almost won the governorship of Kansas. And his downfall was also hugely embarrassing. After years of heavy criticism and scrutiny from the editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association, Brinkley sued for libel (bad move!) and was proved to be a quack. He had to admit that he didn't hook up the nerves, but just cut a hole in the man's scrotum and threw the goat balls in and sewed it up. He also had to admit that one of his bottled remedies was nothing but water with a little blue dye. And when he claimed that nobody ever died in his hospital under his care, well, a sheaf of death certificates said otherwise. But since people are idiots, they continued to support Brinkley because he was charming and offered them TESTIMONIALS!
I read this on the heels of "Thunderstruck," and noticed that the two go together nicely. "Thunderstruck" takes place at the turn of the century and also discusses patent medicines and a doctor under the world's magnifying glass, only that doctor had murdered his wife, not a patient.
I read this on the heels of "Thunderstruck," and noticed that the two go together nicely. "Thunderstruck" takes place at the turn of the century and also discusses patent medicines and a doctor under the world's magnifying glass, only that doctor had murdered his wife, not a patient.
Thoroughly enjoyable, I found the Epilogue to be the most disturbing section, with the surfeit of modern-day analogues to "Dr." brinkley's methods.
The story of quacks wouldn't be nearly as fascinating without the legions of ready and willing customers for their too-good-to-be-true methods. Here was a guy who suckered untold numbers of people into getting goat testicles implanted into them. And only after decades of practice did they turn on him.
But...fascinating read, and I'd highly recommend it.
The story of quacks wouldn't be nearly as fascinating without the legions of ready and willing customers for their too-good-to-be-true methods. Here was a guy who suckered untold numbers of people into getting goat testicles implanted into them. And only after decades of practice did they turn on him.
But...fascinating read, and I'd highly recommend it.
Interesting enough but certainly not a page turner.
I hardly ever give five stars to a nonfiction book but I read the star rating descriptions and I do really have to call this book "amazing." As in, I was amazed every time I read it. Amazed that this is a true story. These things really happened and I had no idea at all.
This is one of my favorite warnings about populism--in the 1920s, John Brinkley, armed with a shady medical degree, started a Kansas clinic transplanting goat testicles into men as a primitive Viagra.
Wildly successful at both making money and killing patients, and buoyed by a powerful radio transmitter, Brinkley defied anyone to require him to have a medical license or, in fact, any regulations at all. Dr. Morris Fishbein of the AMA, who did, in fact, possess medical knowledge, made it his life's work to stop Brinkley (who, along the way ran for and almost won the governorship of Kansas in a bid to keep doing his thing, but then fled to Mexico, where his radio station aired both goat testicle testimonials and early rock and roll).
Wildly successful at both making money and killing patients, and buoyed by a powerful radio transmitter, Brinkley defied anyone to require him to have a medical license or, in fact, any regulations at all. Dr. Morris Fishbein of the AMA, who did, in fact, possess medical knowledge, made it his life's work to stop Brinkley (who, along the way ran for and almost won the governorship of Kansas in a bid to keep doing his thing, but then fled to Mexico, where his radio station aired both goat testicle testimonials and early rock and roll).
The Depression-era “doctor” who gained fame (and considerable fortune) by inserting goat glands into his patient’s scrotums (eek!), and the AMA editor who dogged his steps, eventually succeeding in making America’s goats and gullible-men-with-erectile-dysfunction that much safer. Benefits, some unlikely, abounded, including a stronger AMA and doctor certification and the rise of the “border blaster” radio stations that introduced the nation to the Carter Family, the blues, and, eventually, Wolfman Jack and rock-and-roll.
Fascinating story about a part of history I knew nothing about. At first I was really disturbed by people shelling out big bucks to have goat testicles implanted in them. Then I thought about all the money drummed up by the diet industry and about people wanting to be injected with a toxin just to have a smooth forehead.
The only thing keeping me from giving this book five stars is that some threads of the narrative did not flow well. For instance, Mr. Brock would tell part of the story of one of Dr. Brinkley's patients but fail to note the significance until later in the book.
The only thing keeping me from giving this book five stars is that some threads of the narrative did not flow well. For instance, Mr. Brock would tell part of the story of one of Dr. Brinkley's patients but fail to note the significance until later in the book.