Crooked: Man-Made Disease Explained: The incredible story of metal, microbes, and medicine - hidden within our faces.

by Forrest Maready

Why do babies have lopsided smiles? Why are so many people’s eyes misaligned? What started as a simple search to understand this phenomenon turned into a two-year quest that uncovered hidden links between our crooked faces and some of the most puzzling diseases of our time.

From autism to Alzheimer’s and from chronic fatigue syndrome to Crohn’s disease, Crooked methodically goes through the most recent scientific research and connects the dots from the outbreak of metallic medicine in 1800s England to the eruption of neurological and autoimmune disorders so many are suffering from today. If the theories put forth in this book are true, the convergence of metals, microbes and medicine that started two hundred years ago may have set humanity on a path of suffering that could make the deadliest epidemics in history pale in comparison. Thankfully, for the millions who are afflicted, who may have found nothing to explain the cause of their suffering — these same theories could also illuminate the path to healing and recovery.

WITH CHAPTERS & EXPLANATIONS FOR THESE ILLNESSES

Genres: Health, Nonfiction, History, Science, Vaccines, Politics, Parenting

385 pages, Paperback

Published January 18, 2018

About the author

After graduating from Wake Forest University with a degree in Religion and Music, Maready plied his trade in the film industry for several years, working on several Muppet movies, four seasons of Dawson’s Creek, and many other films and television shows as an audio engineer, editor, composer, and animator. He transitioned into technology as a designer and developer for visual effects software and CTO at NextGlass (now called Untappd). While at NextGlass, he helped develop machine learning software to wrangle the gigabytes of data being generated from their mass spectrometer and liquid chemical analyzers.

Creator of the popular “My Incredible Opinion” and “VaxBaby” video series, he has spent the last few years researching and writing about some of the most enigmatic riddles of science and medicine, notably autism and polio. Forrest has spoken at events and conferences around the country but prefers to stay close to his writing home in the cab of a 1992 F-150, where many of his manuscripts were composed. He lives with his wife and son in Wilmington, N.C. and enjoys tennis, piano, and competitive shooting.

Reviews

[La Coccinelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

So here's the basic premise: When you inject aluminum into the body (usually through a vaccine, but sometimes through other sources such as allergy or vitamin shots), the body views it as a foreign invader and deploys the immune system. Unfortunately, there's not much a white blood cell can do about a metal. It can't kill it, right? So the immune system tries to encapsulate the aluminum, forming something called a granuloma (which can sometimes be physically felt under the skin as a little lump). The metal can also go into the white blood cells themselves, which poses a big problem... because the next time the body signals the immune system for help with inflammation, the white blood cells come running, carrying their toxic aluminum payload. When this inflammation happens where the cranial nerves originate, it can cause all sorts of problems... and not just in the face, as you might expect.

Having suffered from chronic illness for years, I was really interested to read this book and see if it offered any new information or potential fixes for some of the issues I've experienced since childhood. While there was certainly a lot of information, and it was interesting, I'm not sure if I really got much in the way of fixes. I'll explain a little more about that later.

Reviewing non-fiction is always kind of tricky for me. If the subject matter is important, I don't want to discourage people from reading the book. On the other hand, if there are problematic aspects of the work, I don't necessarily want to be promoting those. Crooked has both good and not-so-good aspects. So let's just break them down and see where that leaves us.

The good:

1. There's a ton of information here. While Mr. Maready does say multiple times (mainly in the beginning) that these are just his theories, he's found an awful lot of science to back them up (the studies can be found as endnotes, and are linked throughout the text in the Kindle edition). The history was particularly interesting, showing how many of the diseases we take for granted today have not always been around (at least not in the same large numbers we have now), and showing the mechanism by which they might have come about. (The info on mercury as medicine was both fascinating and horrifying. Today, if you're constipated, you might be told to eat some more fibre. Back in the 1800s, you were given a purgative that would contain a whopping amount of mercury, and then your doctor would be baffled when you suddenly couldn't move half of your face.)

2. He doesn't just concentrate on crooked faces. Taking the theory of cranial nerve damage from aluminum one step further, he plausibly links the same mechanism of damage to a wide variety of conditions, from lupus and Crohn's to autism and traumatic brain injury.

3. He outlines some simple tests that can help you determine if your baby/child has experienced cranial nerve damage after their vaccines (which is the main source of aluminum today). All you need for these tests is some patience and a camera.

4. The hopeful tone of the book is one of its good points. Mr. Maready tries not to give false hope, since some damage from metal toxicity might not be reversible, but the body does have an incredible ability to heal itself. It stands to reason that if you can get the metal out and the chronic infections under control, then you have a chance of regaining your health.

The not-so-good:

1. There are a ton of typos. I know Mr. Maready was eager to get this book into the hands of his readers, but it really could've used another round of editing and proofreading. The typos I can sort of overlook, but in non-fiction it can become more than a little annoying, and potentially dangerous. In one section, he mistakenly refers to melatonin when he meant melanin... and he does it multiple times. Unfortunately, this doesn't help the book's credibility. I've done a lot of reading in the health field, so I can pick out these sorts of errors. But this is a book written for laypeople and parents who might not realize the wrong terminology when they see it. If there's a second edition of Crooked, I hope it'll be checked thoroughly.

2. While there's a lot of information about what can go wrong, there's not a lot of information on how to fix the problems once they've occurred. It boils down to two things: get the metal out and fix any chronic infections. For me, personally, the suggestions were particularly unhelpful, as I've had some experience with both of the main methods and couldn't tolerate either. I'm also disheartened that the book promotes Chronic Illness Recovery, a group that uses what looks like a rip-off of the Marshall Protocol. (For those who don't know, it's a protocol for ridding the body of chronic infections using an angiotensin receptor blocker, antibiotics, and vitamin-D avoidance. I did it for a year back in 2010-2011, and ended up in the ER feeling like I'd had my insides firebombed; if the idea was to prevent inflammation, it failed miserably.) Antibiotics carry their own set of problems, especially when they are used for years, as is done with these protocols. I was disappointed that that was the extent of the suggestions for getting rid of chronic infections. There was no mention of herbal protocols, which can be just as effective at killing off bacteria (as evidenced by the die-off reactions that some people can experience).

This book's strength lies in its well-researched information, the historical disease parallels, and the wide variety of conditions that are explained and linked to the theory. While I do think it's worth reading for that alone, I'm still disappointed that the section on how to fix the problems was kind of sparse. Perhaps it's really beyond the scope of this book; Mr. Maready isn't a doctor, so there's a fine line between offering information and giving medical advice. I suppose I may have been expecting more than I should have from that section of the book.

All in all, this was a fascinating read, and a nice complement to Mr. Maready's YouTube videos. With so many people today suffering from these man-made diseases, it's a book that everyone should read... if only to understand that injecting metal is having unintended consequences. (Note: For those who think this is an anti-vaccine book, it's really not. Vaccines contain aluminum; that's not up for debate. All this book does is explain the possible consequences of injecting that metal. More and more research is coming out now that's showing that aluminum might not be as benign as we once thought. Heck, we used to think mercury was safe to give to babies for teething; why should we be surprised we were wrong about the safety of aluminum as well?)

[Kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I deeply appreciate the intensive work Forrest put into this book. I will say that the typos are distracting, but the message is crystal clear. There is currently something horrifyingly wrong with the health of humanity. Forrest presents us with some very well thought out and medically founded theories as to what is going so terribly wrong with our modern day health (or lack there of).

[T. L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting theories and concept on what might be the underling conditions/issues/causes for autoimmune and/or chronic diseases.
- 5 stars for the analysis of the nervous system and how damage to specific nerve is expressed i.e. symptoms
- 5 stars on history of metals' use as medicine
- 0 stars for ‘intercellular bacterial inflammation’ theory as the cause for metal accumulation and damage

Author’s theory: autoimmune and chronic illnesses are the result from chronic inflammation due to bacterial infection, from metal toxicity, or from both.

Personally, I totally agree with metal toxicity theory as it is proven in his references and many studies how toxic the metals are to the body, you don’t need bacteria to inflict many symptoms of a autoimmune or/and chronic disease, simple and plain metal can do it perfectly ‘on its own’.

I totally disagree on bacteria and inflammation being a cause of any disease, the reasons are two:
1. The presence of bacteria in a body does not indicate that it is the cause of any disease, as with firefighters being present at a fire screen doesn’t indicate they are the cause of the fire. Bacteria can be found in diseased and in healthy body/tissue e.g. ecoli, srep, staphylococcus etc. even the author admits it many times by referencing to studies. A germ to be proven to be a pathogen needs to satisfy Koch’s postulates, i.e. an isolated germ needs to cause a disease when introduced into healthy body; many researchers attempted to prove it and couldn’t as a result since 1950 it is just assumed and unfortunately the whole modern medical science and pharma are based on ‘germ theory’ i.e. germs are the cause of disease.
2. Inflammation is body’s mechanism to bring high amount of blood rich in nutrients and somatids in order to clean up and heal the area of injury. The cause of injury can be due to an accident or due to external offender e.g. metals, chemicals being ingested, injected or inhaled. Chronic inflammation indicates that the body is constantly injured from something it is unable to eliminate or detox from, metals and petrochemicals are the perfect example.

Some facts:
- Bacteria are saprotrophic, they feed on injured, dead and decomposing matter, they are natural recyclers and appear only if there is food/matter for them to feed upon, you won’t find bacteria on an apple still attached to the tree or any other fruit of vegetable, they are also not contagious.
- The different types of microorganisms in any living matter but especially in the blood are created by somatids (Gaston Naessens), also know as microzymas (Antoine Bechamp). These somatids go through a cycle of life, transforming based on the environment and food available, from simple inactive spores to bacteria and fungi and to final stage of life i.e. death, during death the microorganism erupts and produces new somatids and the whole cycle of life starts all over.
- The microorganism, are not the cause of any dis-ease but they can add to the discomfort and also increase the toxicity when the environment is extremely toxic, i.e. by feeding upon highly toxic matter and without access to oxygen they will produce toxic waste taxing further the already poisoned body/matter.
- Nutrient deficient diet, toxic air, stress, trauma, radiation, metals, chemical pollution, shocks, accidents etc. will alter the ‘terrain’ (body’s internal environment) and will transform the somatids into forms that can feed up on the waste product created by the mentioned above causers.

I highly suggest this book for those who want to understand how metals poisoning affects the body, the rest i.e. bacteria, viruses, inflammation should be substituted with work done by Gaston Naessens & Antoine Bechamp. I highly suggest the following books regarding microorganisms, diseases and health:
- Bechamp Or Pasteur?
- Virus Mania
- Good-Bye Germ Theory
- What Really Makes You Ill?
- The Blood and Its Third Element

[AURORA RU · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally not so-called scientific truth, not even close to that, but I really enjoyed this story how a naturally curious man pursued his explorations into unknown land of medical dogmas. He is fooling around some common-strange things, like toxic metals for medical use, hidden neurological knowledge, in order to getting closer to understand the immunity and where the auto-immune diseases are coming from. I was surprised by author's ability to think outside the box, probably because he had not received that strict medical indoctrination. His questions are so much on point.
As I followed his journey I learned A LOT.
Higly recommend this book, especially before making informed consent about the vaccination. Althought we are already loaded with aluminium and mercury, this book tells us what to do.

P.S. I didn't know that once the broadly used mercury-based medication was called "blue pill" (remember Matrix?):
"Regardless of the specifics of the recipe, blue pills would have at the very least contained a good amount of mercury chloride, if not pure elemental mercury.
Blue pills were used to treat everything from syphilis to tuberculosis. Although they were also used to ease the pains of childbirth, we can asume this poor lady was prescribed them to deal with constipation, a frequent occurence during the later stages of pregnancy. The mercury pills had evidently made her mouth sore, a common occurence with mercury poisoning, but her paralysis was attributed to a swollen lymph node - a result, no doubt, of the mercury- presumably compressing the blood supply to the cranial nerve controlling that side of her face."

[Eric · Rating 1 out of 5]

There are many claimants to the title of "Dumbest Antivaccine Book", but Forrest Maready has a major contestant in "Crooked".

Maready, who acknowledges in the book that he's a) not a scientist or physician, and b) doesn't know if he's right, nevertheless wants us to believe that Dangerous Metal Toxins are responsible for "lopsided smiles and misaligned eyes". Maready doesn't present evidence that our facial features are any more "crooked" than they've historically been, but he says he noticed it and set out to discover why. This took him down a long and crooked rabbit hole of targeting modern medicine, in particular vaccination. Vaccines don't contain toxic amounts of metals (for example, the ones that use aluminum adjuvant to improve immune response have much smaller quantities of aluminum than we get in daily food and drink and have an excellent safety record). This doesn't matter to Maready, who's determined to use his misguided hammer on anything that he thinks is a nail.

While "Crooked" may not win the prize for all-time dumbest antivaccine book, it's almost surely the most moronic of Maready's considerable antivax output.

[Larry Guthrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

If the hypotheses in this book are proven true, it has major implications for the medical and pharmaceutical fields. Well researched and presented. A must read for those concerned with vaccines, their safety, and effects.

[Andrea Bremner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Forrest Maready studies the question ‘why do so many of us have crooked smiles?’ The answer he unravels to this simple observation is an extraordinary piece of investigative research.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought-provoking book

I believe the author is onto something about the heavy metals in our bodies and the perils of vaccinations and their deleterious effects on our bodies. Something is causing the explosion of many-made diseases that were unknown in the past, autism being a prime example. One negative aspect of the book is that for some of the lesser known diseases, it seems the author speculates, making comments that he feels these diseases are linked to heavy metals in vaccines without much supporting evidence. Also, some of the book seems so repetitive as to make it seems as if the repetition is used as filler to make the word count. This got a bit tedious and, well, skippable. And there seemed to be little at the end to help the average person in figuring out how to get rid of the heavy metals and inflammation, although he promised he would provide that information. This section was extremely short. With all that being said, I am in fact in full agreement regarding this author’s conclusions about vaccines, as has been noted by other authors in other books. My daughter, husband, my daughter-in-law, son, step-grandson, and I all suffer from various man-made diseases that I firmly believe can be traced back to vaccines and their negative effects on our bodies. I just have no idea of practical ways to heal us.

[Shay Marie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This author writes in the book's forward that he isn't a scientist and everything in here is just his own personal opinion (or "theories" as he puts it). I'm not about that since I have enough people in my own life with their own similarly un-researched opinions that they likewise cling to based on nothing more than a gut feeling. Save your money and just join an anti-vaxx group on Facebook. It's faster and cheaper and you'll get the same info.

[Luke Watts · Rating 2 out of 5]

The strength of this book is in the reality that we have far more illnesses, diseases, syndromes, spectrums, disorders, allergies than ever before. Why? You may not agree with this author’s response to that, but there is simply no denying the question should be asked, and asked boldly and repeatedly. This author does so, and in several portions of this book, I found myself appreciating that. As wise people have said, you can prefer someone’s way of doing it rather than another’s of not doing it, and that’s what I found myself appreciating. This book is pre-Covid, so If the last couple of years have proven anything it is that when hard questions must be asked of vaccines and mandates and its also shown that anyone who asks why or how or what, they are shut down, attacked, maligned, abused. Short term history has already proven that there were serious questions that should have been asked and thoroughly examined about the consequences of so much vaccination. Blind trust in pharmaceutical and government health officials has been tarnished (pardon the pun) by their lack of answers, accountability, and transparency on the very questions this authors raised in certain points are especially further amplified by such an unprecedented amount of vaccinations in a short amount of time that so many have had in these last couple of years and the adverse affects that are evident.

The weakness of the book is found not so much in the authors research (not that I in anyway followed up his bibliography or sources, but the breadth of this research in some parts was by no means lazy), but that the research had an outcome in mind before it was begun. That’s not strange, most research would openly set out to prove something, but what became a little revealing with the authors statements such as, “I believe that…” (not indicating that his belief was not based in evidence, but that it was his starting point, and he was convinced evidence would be forthcoming), or “I think…” (which never added certainty to his statement), or “I speculate” (which never a great grounding for forming a compelling argument). The bias diminishes his argument in several ways, but at least he was honest about it. His repetition also became a little too much, as the horse was dead about half way through, but he was still giving it a good whipping to the end. The main objection I would raise is not that the author is not an immunologist or a medical professional, (that’d be unfair as he never presents himself as one) , or even that his main arguments are completely erroneous (which I don’t think they all are), but that he states some of his conclusions as absolute rules that don’t always apply (ie, shell shock link to STD treatment by mercury was not convincing as I’m quite sure there were many who suffered the condition who would have never received the treatment). These kind of moments greatly hindered his argument for my mind.

Overall, as I didn’t expect to finish the book, I must give the author credit, he intrigued, challenged, and raised a few unanswered questions for my own mind.

While I’m sure some could classify me as one of “those” people for having given my time to reading this, I would warmly suggest classifying other people as ignorant based on their personal questions about such matters may put you in a position that might not age well. This is proven in the strongest argument for reading this book is that it was unintentionally prophetic in a couple of places.

[ShaiJai · Rating 5 out of 5]

The medical industrial complex is not really interested in the cause of disease. I've come to realize that this is mainly because the medical system is likely the cause of many chronic diseases. As the author states in his epilogue, "When it comes to any flavor of modern disease, it would appear that humanity is content to ask the same two questions: What are the genetic defects that caused this? When can we expect a cure? One might think that if any of these diseases were determined to have a human cause, there would be rejoicing in the streets. A man-made cause should theoretically be reversible, which would make the disease preventable. But for some reason, we always look the other way when a human-centered role is implied." Many people will shrug off the theories put forth in this book, simply because the author is not credentialed. However, his lack of credentials gives him a unique and more objective view than those with the edcuational biases in the health care industry. He also supports much of his ideas with citations and many health care providers are incorporating heavy metal detoxification in their practices with success. As corporate profit is more important than making people healthy again and billions of people have been injected with heavy metals and ingredients never used before, The Merck Manual of mostly man-made diseases will likely grow even more.

[Sean Reeves · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you wanted proof of a world gone mad, then the claims made in this book will provide the evidence. The aluminium in many vaccines is identified as playing a central role in a wide range of diseases because it binds to white blood cells. These cells help the body fight infections but their arrival at inflamed sites also introduces a toxic metal that damages tissue and transforms disease-causing bacteria into an even more dangerous intracellular form that can enter white blood cells and undermine immune responses even further. Babies, infants and small children are especially vulnerable because they are being subjected to an ever increasing number of vaccinations, setting them up for mild to severe neurological damage and susceptibility to various auto-immune disorders. The medical myth is that the amount of aluminium contained in a vaccine is so tiny that it dissipates throughout the body and is rapidly excreted. This is simply not true. The reason for the inclusion of the metal in vaccines is that it greatly boosts the immune response which is not surprising as the aluminium is recognised as a dangerous foreign substance. However, white blood cells cannot kill these metallic nanoparticles as they can viruses, bacteria and protozoa. Instead there is a fateful fusion.

[Michael & Photini Holverson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairly interesting and approachable read. I find the metal toxicity theory compelling and this book makes a good case for its role in the vast array of illnesses we see today. The beginning really hooks you, but the book was a bit tedious in the middle section as it went from illness to illness and basically said the same things repeatedly with slight modifications. It definitely makes the point of his argument, but was not super intriguing to read through, in my opinion. I also found the ending of the book to be slightly underwhelming, though the actionable steps he presents make sense and are thorough enough to get one started down the path to recovery. I enjoy Maready‘s style of writing, but I think his other work that I have read, The Moth in the Iron Lung, was a much more satisfying experience.

I highly recommend this book to someone completely unfamiliar with the concept of heavy metal toxicity, but it should be treated as an introduction at most. - M

[Zoi Gauna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an interesting book that delves into diseases that are extremely prevalent today. The author goes into how metal toxicity along with inflammation from chronic bacterial infections could explain a large number of diseases, especially auto-immune diseases. He explains that vaccines, just like in the 1800s when they commonly used medicines with heavy metals, are introducing aluminum into the body that, alongside bacterial infections, are manifesting a whole host of modern man-made diseases. While there are some parts where he over-simplified and a few other sections I didn't fully agree with, his theories and research are extremely compelling

[Rachel Favilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

One might think that reading about metal, microbes and cranial nerves would be dry … but the author somehow makes this topic page-turning content, thoughtfully finishing each chapter with a cliffhanger the segues seamlessly into the next one. If you have (or know someone with) a chronic disease of any kind, this is worth a read. Forrest has done research and connected dots that most people haven’t and as a health professional myself I found this to be a valuable “professional development” resource.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

People who label Maready's work as "conspiracy theory" haven't read it. The way he critically engages with widely disparate sources and complex biological mechanisms reveals the rare ability to go into the weeds and zoom out to synthesize and generate profoundly novel hypotheses. He has critically important insights regarding chronic illness and neurodevelopment. On top of his insights, he is a great storyteller. We should be paying MUCH more attention to metal toxicity and its interaction with the immune system. I will be reading more from Maready. Highly recommend.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost 5 stars!

Mr. Maready offers a well-informed hypothesis that aluminum contributes to many illnesses and conditions, with 243 citations to support this.

Everyone should read this book to at least begin thinking outside the box we’ve all been shoved into.

The Healing and Recovery section was massively disappointing. I had hoped for more supportive therapeutics but understand this is probably outside his scope.

[Kentin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only reason it doesn’t get 5 stars is because it was hastily edited. It has numerous typos and no table of contents. Also, I was hoping the section on how to resolve these issues would have way more information than it did. Other than that, it is an excellent book that does a good job explaining the history (or lack thereof) of man made diseases and how many of them are probably caused, at least in part, by metal toxicity.

[Vijaya Bodach · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is one man's curiosity about crooked smiles and how it led him to investigate chronic health problems and tracing their history back to the 1800s. Fascinating book, well researched. He has several other books: THE MOTH IN THE IRON LUNG and UNVACCINATED that promise to be just as interesting.

[Val Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great information on what to look for

This book is full of information that will help us look for certain things that may point us in the right direction for a diagnosis sooner rather than later.

[Jehian Tiley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly informative and helpful read covering medical theory and man-made disease.
I just wish there was a contents page and an index as both would have been super helpful and excellent auxiliaries for future reference and research. Perhaps a revised version would include these.

[Brad Bevers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book. Hard to know what to make of it without reading some other things, but at the very least it raises a lot of important questions. I liked his Moth in the Iron Lung better but this one is definitely worth a read.

[Eldon Beck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing, compelling, and methodical. A fascinating, curious look through the last few hundred years of medicine that does much to explain and provide compelling hypotheses for many of the chronic conditions of our day.

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye-opening and factual. Excellent read.

[Cyanemi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure on this one. Lots of observational evidence and conjecture. Interesting nevertheless.

[Kim Carey · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some interesting concepts

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone who has kids, who has parents who knows someone suffering from autoimmune diseases should be reading this book.

[Reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a load of shite

[Alicja · Rating 4 out of 5]

The history alone particularly surrounding mercury in medicine makes this a worthwhile read.