Quackery

A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything

By: Lydia Kang, Nate Pedersen

Narrated by: Hillary Huber

What won't we try in our quest for perfect health, beauty, and the fountain of youth? Well, just imagine a time when doctors prescribed morphine for crying infants. When liquefied gold was touted as immortality in a glass. And when strychnine - yes, that strychnine, the one used in rat poison - was dosed like Viagra.

Looking back with fascination, horror, and not a little dash of dark, knowing humor, Quackery recounts the lively, at times unbelievable, history of medical misfires and malpractices. Ranging from the merely weird to the outright dangerous, here are dozens of outlandish, morbidly hilarious "treatments" - conceived by doctors and scientists, by spiritualists, and snake oil salesmen (yes, they literally tried to sell snake oil) - that were predicated on a range of cluelessness, trial and error, and straight-up scams. This book seamlessly combines macabre humor with science and storytelling to reveal an important and disturbing side of the ever-evolving field of medicine.

©2017 Lydia Kang and Nate Pedersen (P)2018 Tantor

Captivating

The narrator was the perfect choice for this book. She made the subject matter so enjoyable.

wonderful

easy to follow the narrator and interesting topic. Humerus ( hahaha ) and strangely cool.

Interesting and Entertaining

Very interesting subject matter, thorough with some low brow humor that made me chuckle often

Cracked up

This had me both curious and amused at the same time. From electric baths, to balancing the four light colors. So much fun!

not bad for it's demographic

I found it alright, although the humor was mediocre at best. There was also a hint of the author's political beliefs in here, though it felt out of place for the book this is. I would have preferred a more unbiased and factual alternative to this book, but for people who enjoy storytelling to compliment non-fiction this is a decent read.

I'm grateful to life in the modern world

More than any other book Quackery made me very thankful to be alive now and not at some point in the past. We can glamorize bygone eras, but the idea of having hemorrhoids burned off with a red-hot piece of metal is all you need to know to realize it's better to be alive now than it was then. Fantastic book - very entertaining and very informative.

A Fascinating Journey

I really enjoyed learning about the various ways that humans have tried to help and heal each other through the centuries. And the snake oil. So much snake oil!

Fascinating

Absolutely fascinating book, unfortunately the reader sounded robotic but it is still worth a listen.

Watch out for nausea!

Chapter 22 made me so nauseous. But very interesting over all! I also like the narrator

Loved it all

My latest topic for my listening pleasure has been about medical history. This book was filled with history, some new to me and some not, humor, and wonderful explanations. This is one I may come back to.

If you are interested in the offbeat things that were touted as medical miracles and devices that maybe weren't so great, this is the book for you.