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The Two-headed Boy, and Other Medical Marvels
A successor to his popular book A Cabinet of Medical Curiosities, this new collection of essays by Jan Bondeson illustrates various anomalies of human development, the lives of the remarkable individuals concerned, and social reactions to their extraordinary bodies. Bondeson examines historical cases of dwarfism, extreme corpulence, giantism, conjoined twins, dicephaly, and extreme hairiness; his broader theme, however, is the infinite range of human experience. The dicephalous Tocci brothers and Lazarus Colloredo (from whose belly grew his malformed conjoined twin), the Swedish giant, and the king of Poland's dwarf―Bondeson considers these individuals not as "freaks" but as human beings born with sometimes appalling congenital deformities. He makes full use of original French, German, Dutch, Polish, and Scandinavian sources and explores elements of ethnology, literature, and cultural history in his diagnoses. Heavily illustrated with woodcuts, engravings, oil paintings, and photographs, The Two-Headed Boy and Other Medical Marvels combines a scientist's scrutiny with a humanist's wonder at the endurance of the human spirit. Contents
The Two Inseparable Brothers, and a Preface
The Hairy Maid at the Harpsichord
The Stone-child
The Woman Who Laid an Egg
The Strangest Miracle in the World
Some Words about Hog-faced Gentlewomen
Horned Humans
The Biddenden Maids
The Tocci Brothers, and Other Dicephali
The King of Poland's Court Dwarf
Daniel Cajanus, the Swedish Giant
Daniel Lambert, the Human Colossus
Cat-eating Englishmen and French Frog-swallowers
The Two Inseparable Brothers, and a Preface
The Hairy Maid at the Harpsichord
The Stone-child
The Woman Who Laid an Egg
The Strangest Miracle in the World
Some Words about Hog-faced Gentlewomen
Horned Humans
The Biddenden Maids
The Tocci Brothers, and Other Dicephali
The King of Poland's Court Dwarf
Daniel Cajanus, the Swedish Giant
Daniel Lambert, the Human Colossus
Cat-eating Englishmen and French Frog-swallowers
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
10 people are currently reading
462 people want to read
About the author
Jan Bondeson
41 books61 followersOutside of his career in medicine, he has written several nonfiction books on a variety of topics, such as medical anomalies and unsolved murder mysteries.
Bondeson is the biographer of a predecessor of Jack the Ripper, the London Monster, who stabbed fifty women in the buttocks, of Edward 'the Boy' Jones, who stalked Queen Victoria and stole her underwear, and Greyfriars Bobby, a Scottish terrier who supposedly spent 14 years guarding his master's grave.
He is currently working as a senior lecturer and consultant rheumatologist at the Cardiff University School of Medicine.
(from Wikipedia)
Bondeson is the biographer of a predecessor of Jack the Ripper, the London Monster, who stabbed fifty women in the buttocks, of Edward 'the Boy' Jones, who stalked Queen Victoria and stole her underwear, and Greyfriars Bobby, a Scottish terrier who supposedly spent 14 years guarding his master's grave.
He is currently working as a senior lecturer and consultant rheumatologist at the Cardiff University School of Medicine.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 27, 2016
Bondeson writes like this is the book he's always wanted to write. Through the whole thing it's like he's saying, "Let me show you my Pokemon cards. I have so many, and I love them so, so much." But, instead of boring little cartoons who can only speak their names, he presents living human beings who were so much more than their problems. Many of these people were once very famous and had all kinds of things written about them so his task is to find out what's plausible and what was just hype.
He does this by comparing as many accounts as he could find with each other and with accounts of people with similar problems throughout western history. Then, he considers the sometimes multitudinous explanations from medicine as to what, exactly, was happening to their bodies.
Some of these people did lead sad lives, but not all of them, and he takes great pains to point out the variety of experiences they all had. One man ends up tortured in a Portuguese military camp, one man ends up visiting the English king. Many make their living by exhibiting themselves; some with great success, some only to be exploited. Some became much revered icons of charity and wonder while others became symbols of sin and degredation.
The only time where he gets a little bit judgy is when he's dealing with fat. I understand why he might be doubtful of the very, very fat man's eating routine (though I personally think something more was going on), but I really saw no reason to mention that the mother of the Tocci brother's access to "calory-rich food allowed by the family's recent affluence" had anything to do with what "destroyed whatever good looks she had once possessed." I agree that she and her husband probably weren't the best of parents, but that just seemed like a cheap shot fired by a modern person who'd never been hungry except while dieting.
Still, overall I thought this was a real page-turner. It has many illustrations (though I suspect the captions on two of Nicolas Ferry's wax dummies are swapped) and is an excellent choice if you'd like something you can read in bits and pieces from day to day.
He does this by comparing as many accounts as he could find with each other and with accounts of people with similar problems throughout western history. Then, he considers the sometimes multitudinous explanations from medicine as to what, exactly, was happening to their bodies.
Some of these people did lead sad lives, but not all of them, and he takes great pains to point out the variety of experiences they all had. One man ends up tortured in a Portuguese military camp, one man ends up visiting the English king. Many make their living by exhibiting themselves; some with great success, some only to be exploited. Some became much revered icons of charity and wonder while others became symbols of sin and degredation.
The only time where he gets a little bit judgy is when he's dealing with fat. I understand why he might be doubtful of the very, very fat man's eating routine (though I personally think something more was going on), but I really saw no reason to mention that the mother of the Tocci brother's access to "calory-rich food allowed by the family's recent affluence" had anything to do with what "destroyed whatever good looks she had once possessed." I agree that she and her husband probably weren't the best of parents, but that just seemed like a cheap shot fired by a modern person who'd never been hungry except while dieting.
Still, overall I thought this was a real page-turner. It has many illustrations (though I suspect the captions on two of Nicolas Ferry's wax dummies are swapped) and is an excellent choice if you'd like something you can read in bits and pieces from day to day.
May 1, 2013
This was certainly a fascinating book! Each chapter focused on a different medical abnormality. Some chapters were quite disgusting - particularly the explanation of the 365 children born at once to one woman. While the book was meticulously researched, it lost some of its credibility with the author's own opinions sprinkled throughout. Had Bondeson been less opinionated, I would have liked the book more - his own views just really contrasted with the rest of the historical nature of the book.
July 25, 2017
Interesting and thorough. The author is very careful to be "scientific" consistently referring to teratolgy and defending his interest in the unusual. Would have liked more genetic information, though I know it can't always be determined what caused a particular mutation
November 23, 2007
This is another book I read while in the midst of my conjoined twin obsession and after reading One of Us. Needless to say, it was another disappointment. I'm not sure what Bondeson was trying to achieve: retell myths? use modern-day science to explain these anomalies? figure out whether these myths were based on reality?
Some of his writing was frankly boring. At other times, he rebuked both the common person and the scientifically educated for their lack of respect for conjoined twins and people with other anomalies . . . but at the same time, in his writing, he referred to these people as "freaks" and on many occasions referred to a pair of conjoined twins as though they were one person with two heads--- so disrespectful!
At one point, though, he did a quick review of some modern day conjoined twins and offered the perspective, shared by Alice Domurat Dreger, that in most cases, twins should not be cut apart.
Some of his chapters were interesting; others included endlessly boring details. Overall, if you've nothing better to do, you might want to read this book.
Some of his writing was frankly boring. At other times, he rebuked both the common person and the scientifically educated for their lack of respect for conjoined twins and people with other anomalies . . . but at the same time, in his writing, he referred to these people as "freaks" and on many occasions referred to a pair of conjoined twins as though they were one person with two heads--- so disrespectful!
At one point, though, he did a quick review of some modern day conjoined twins and offered the perspective, shared by Alice Domurat Dreger, that in most cases, twins should not be cut apart.
Some of his chapters were interesting; others included endlessly boring details. Overall, if you've nothing better to do, you might want to read this book.
March 2, 2016
I am fascinated with the bizarre, the weird, things that defy the laws of nature, and folklore. And this book was certainly filled with human oddities and tall tales. The author does get bogged down in some medical jargon that caused my eyes to cross a few times, but overall it was an informative read with wonderful illustrations. I must say, I even found myself a little squeamish at times, especially considering how a normal human can munch on a live cat...not an image I will forget for a long time.
March 9, 2016
The last of Bondeson's oeuvre was a quick read because he's recycled so many chapters from his other, less well-organized books, but overall this is still a very good book. It focuses entirely on teratological deformities (birth defects) with the exception of the last chapter on people who eat living animals. (Why that chapter was included is beyond me.) So, if you like the subject matter and its historical impact followed by an analysis on the medical issues behind the marvels, read some Bondeson!
February 5, 2008
jan bondeson's stable of books for strange readers is impressive. though this one is not his strongest title, it delivers exactly what it promises to.
this is where i learned about hydatidiform moles and where i learned more about madame dimanche. who knew that there was more to learn about the widow sunday?
fascinating.
this is where i learned about hydatidiform moles and where i learned more about madame dimanche. who knew that there was more to learn about the widow sunday?
fascinating.
April 20, 2009
i love medical oddities. there are many fantastic images in this one.
September 10, 2009
This book is about human physiological anomalies. Like, a lady who laid two eggs. Seriously. It's a long story as to why I got this book, but parts of it were pretty interesting.
February 5, 2016
So interesting, I love medical oddities especially conjoined twins!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews