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Typhoid Mary: Captive to the Public's Health
This timely and humanizing portrait of the real Typhoid Mary provides a window into the ethical dilemmas surrounding public health policy both past and present
She was an Irish immigrant cook. Between 1900 and 1907, she infected twenty-two New Yorkers with typhoid fever through her puddings and cakes; one of them died. Tracked down through epidemiological detective work, she was finally apprehended as she hid behind a barricade of trashcans. To protect the public's health, authorities isolated her on Manhattan's North Brother Island, where she died some thirty years later.
This book tells the remarkable story of Mary Mallon—the real Typhoid Mary. Combining social history with biography, historian Judith Leavitt re-creates early-twentieth-century New York City, a world of strict class divisions and prejudice against immigrants and women. Leavitt engages the reader with the excitement of the early days of microbiology and brings to life the conflicting perspectives of journalists, public health officials, the law, and Mary Mallon herself.
Leavitt's readable account illuminates dilemmas that continue to haunt us in the age of COVID-19. To what degree are we willing to sacrifice individual liberty to protect the public's health? How far should we go? For anyone who is concerned about the threats and quandaries posed by new epidemics, Typhoid Mary is a vivid reminder of the human side of disease and disease control.
She was an Irish immigrant cook. Between 1900 and 1907, she infected twenty-two New Yorkers with typhoid fever through her puddings and cakes; one of them died. Tracked down through epidemiological detective work, she was finally apprehended as she hid behind a barricade of trashcans. To protect the public's health, authorities isolated her on Manhattan's North Brother Island, where she died some thirty years later.
This book tells the remarkable story of Mary Mallon—the real Typhoid Mary. Combining social history with biography, historian Judith Leavitt re-creates early-twentieth-century New York City, a world of strict class divisions and prejudice against immigrants and women. Leavitt engages the reader with the excitement of the early days of microbiology and brings to life the conflicting perspectives of journalists, public health officials, the law, and Mary Mallon herself.
Leavitt's readable account illuminates dilemmas that continue to haunt us in the age of COVID-19. To what degree are we willing to sacrifice individual liberty to protect the public's health? How far should we go? For anyone who is concerned about the threats and quandaries posed by new epidemics, Typhoid Mary is a vivid reminder of the human side of disease and disease control.
352 pages, Paperback
First published July 31, 1996
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February 9, 2009
Redundant, amateurish, and dry. Within the first page of basically every chapter the author would say "In this chapter we examine…". The last time I was subjected to writing like that it was in my 3rd grade history text book. Leavitt tried to make more out of Mary's story than there was and ends up grasping at straws. There is a point where she is discussing Mary Mallon returning to cooking after she has been released from quarantine on the promise she would not be employed as a cook again, thereby infecting more people with Typhoid. In reference to the fact that she used a pseudonym while working Leavitt comes to the following conclusion "In using a pseudonym she may not have been showing a disregard for public safety but rather her contempt for and disbelief in the new science." Ummm, really? I think she used a pseudonym because she needed a job and as Leavitt mentions a good 30 times prior to this Mary was a good cook which allowed her a decent living, whereas the career options for an Irish immigrant at that time were limited and low paying. She did this with the illustrations included in the book. She read so far into their interpretations desperately trying to make things more metaphorical than they were.
Leavitt repeated AD NAUSEUM that Mary Mallon went to the grave never accepting that she was a healthy carrier of Typhoid. In some way, shape or form, she repeated this almost every 5 pages. On page 194 she states "…but she never accepted her role in transmitting disease". A mere 3 pages later she repeats "Mary never became convinced that she transmitted Typhoid Fever." Obviously the amount of information on Mary Mallon is precious little and Leavitt feels the need to buttress up her story with repetition.
Another thing that irked me is a picture of Mary Mallon and a worker on Brother's Island where she was quarantined. Mary is on the left and Emma Sherman is on the right. Yet the caption reads " Emma Sherman and Mary Mallon (right)…". I realize this is a small thing but it just goes to show the shoddiness of Leavitt's book. The fact that she couldn't even streamline and uncomplicate a caption is a terrible portending of what the remainder of the book is.
All in all if you cut out all the repetitive jibber jabber and over indulgent hypothesis the book would have been half as long but still dryer than a math book.
Leavitt repeated AD NAUSEUM that Mary Mallon went to the grave never accepting that she was a healthy carrier of Typhoid. In some way, shape or form, she repeated this almost every 5 pages. On page 194 she states "…but she never accepted her role in transmitting disease". A mere 3 pages later she repeats "Mary never became convinced that she transmitted Typhoid Fever." Obviously the amount of information on Mary Mallon is precious little and Leavitt feels the need to buttress up her story with repetition.
Another thing that irked me is a picture of Mary Mallon and a worker on Brother's Island where she was quarantined. Mary is on the left and Emma Sherman is on the right. Yet the caption reads " Emma Sherman and Mary Mallon (right)…". I realize this is a small thing but it just goes to show the shoddiness of Leavitt's book. The fact that she couldn't even streamline and uncomplicate a caption is a terrible portending of what the remainder of the book is.
All in all if you cut out all the repetitive jibber jabber and over indulgent hypothesis the book would have been half as long but still dryer than a math book.
September 19, 2014
At the turn of the twentieth century, Mary Mallon, an Irish-born cook, was seized by New York health officials as the first healthy carrier of typhoid, infecting others without showing signs of illness herself. She was incarcerated, briefly freed, and then recaptured and imprisoned for life when she was discovered cooking again (and infecting those she cooked for). But the story of the woman who became known as Typhoid Mary is far more complicated than those bare facts. Why was she imprisoned for life, when so many other healthy carriers went free? And what are the implications of her story for current epidemics like AIDS, drug-resistant TB, and Ebola?
Leavitt does a remarkable job of showing how different groups interpreted Mallon's story for their own purposes, from health officials to reporters to Mallon herself, and shows how stereotypes of race, class, and gender played into people's perceptions of Mallon. The story is by turns fascinating and heartbreaking. And in the final chapter she also shows how the same dynamics of health boards scrambling to figure out containment and cure can backfire by making certain populations feel stigmatized and others feel irrationally safe, as in the early days of the AIDS crisis, leading to policies that actually contribute to the spread of disease.
Leavitt does have a tendency to repeat herself on certain topics, such as certain healthy carriers who infected more people than Mallon and worked in the food industry, but who were allowed their freedom, and the repetition can be tiresome at times. But overall, she presents the competing worldviews of Mallon, the health officials, and the public with empathy and a thoughtful attention to detail, making this an engaging and thought-provoking read.
Leavitt does a remarkable job of showing how different groups interpreted Mallon's story for their own purposes, from health officials to reporters to Mallon herself, and shows how stereotypes of race, class, and gender played into people's perceptions of Mallon. The story is by turns fascinating and heartbreaking. And in the final chapter she also shows how the same dynamics of health boards scrambling to figure out containment and cure can backfire by making certain populations feel stigmatized and others feel irrationally safe, as in the early days of the AIDS crisis, leading to policies that actually contribute to the spread of disease.
Leavitt does have a tendency to repeat herself on certain topics, such as certain healthy carriers who infected more people than Mallon and worked in the food industry, but who were allowed their freedom, and the repetition can be tiresome at times. But overall, she presents the competing worldviews of Mallon, the health officials, and the public with empathy and a thoughtful attention to detail, making this an engaging and thought-provoking read.
March 28, 2019
Mentre nel romanzo Febbre si può leggere la storia romanzata di Mary Mallon, in Typhoid Mary: Captive to the Public's Health ci vengono presentati solo gli aspetti tecnici della vicenda, visti da vari punti di vista.
La scoperta dell'esistenza di portatori sani di tifo è stato un passo avanti mastodontico per la prevenzione e il controllo delle epidemie. Questo assieme al miglioramento delle condizioni igieniche e alle vaccinazioni hanno permesso di far quasi scomparire tutte quelle malattie endemiche che devastavano ciclicamente le grandi metropoli.
Nel libro Judith Walzer Leavitt ci descrive come la sanità, la legge, i giornalisti e la popolazione hanno affrontato la questione dei portatori sani, trovando in Typhoid Mary il capro espiatorio perfetto per spaventare e, volontariamente o meno, caratterizzare quelle minoranze colpevoli di spargere il contagio per colpa delle scarse abitudini igieniche e della loro ignoranza.
Pur non essendo stata una dei peggiori untori del periodo, Mary Mallon, cuoca nubile e di origini irlandesi, è la sola ad essere passata alla Storia e la sola ad essere stata letteralmente isolata dalla società, fino alla sua morte, nel 1938.
Della vita privata della Mallon parla poco, ma perché Mary Mallon stessa non ha mai fatto pubblicità alla sua vita privata. L'argomento principale è sempre il trattamento riservatole dalla società. Il pregiudizio che la isolava dai medici colti, che non si sono mai preoccupati di spiegare in termini semplici il problema, ma si stupivano che la donna non accettasse con entusiasmo l'etichetta (appena scoperta) di portatrice sana. Le simpatie del pubblico, trasformate in sospetto e condanna quando, una volta liberata dalla segregazione e non supportata dallo Stato (cosa fatta in seguito per altri portatori sani nelle sue stesse condizioni), la Mallon è tornata ad assumere il ruolo di cuoca, unico lavoro che piteva sostenerla economicamente e unico lavoro che le permetteva di trasmettere il contagio.
A tratti ripetitivo, il libro offre però un ampio repertorio di fonti e dettagli relativi alla vicenda, con continui paragoni e rimandi all'epidemia di HIV/AIDS che aveva colpito le Americhe alla fine del XX secolo, gli anni corrispondenti alla stesura del libro.
Uno sguardo al passato per impedire il ripetersi degli stessi errori nell'affrontare quella parte di società legata alla trasmissione di una nuova malattia o di vecchi ritorni (come la TBC resistente agli antibiotici o vecchi virus tornati in auge per colpa del cambio di percezio e del rischio).
Quello che emerge dalla lettura è che, rispetto ai primi anni del 1900, oggi non è cambiato nulla... anzi, tutto può solo peggiorare.
La scoperta dell'esistenza di portatori sani di tifo è stato un passo avanti mastodontico per la prevenzione e il controllo delle epidemie. Questo assieme al miglioramento delle condizioni igieniche e alle vaccinazioni hanno permesso di far quasi scomparire tutte quelle malattie endemiche che devastavano ciclicamente le grandi metropoli.
Nel libro Judith Walzer Leavitt ci descrive come la sanità, la legge, i giornalisti e la popolazione hanno affrontato la questione dei portatori sani, trovando in Typhoid Mary il capro espiatorio perfetto per spaventare e, volontariamente o meno, caratterizzare quelle minoranze colpevoli di spargere il contagio per colpa delle scarse abitudini igieniche e della loro ignoranza.
Pur non essendo stata una dei peggiori untori del periodo, Mary Mallon, cuoca nubile e di origini irlandesi, è la sola ad essere passata alla Storia e la sola ad essere stata letteralmente isolata dalla società, fino alla sua morte, nel 1938.
Della vita privata della Mallon parla poco, ma perché Mary Mallon stessa non ha mai fatto pubblicità alla sua vita privata. L'argomento principale è sempre il trattamento riservatole dalla società. Il pregiudizio che la isolava dai medici colti, che non si sono mai preoccupati di spiegare in termini semplici il problema, ma si stupivano che la donna non accettasse con entusiasmo l'etichetta (appena scoperta) di portatrice sana. Le simpatie del pubblico, trasformate in sospetto e condanna quando, una volta liberata dalla segregazione e non supportata dallo Stato (cosa fatta in seguito per altri portatori sani nelle sue stesse condizioni), la Mallon è tornata ad assumere il ruolo di cuoca, unico lavoro che piteva sostenerla economicamente e unico lavoro che le permetteva di trasmettere il contagio.
A tratti ripetitivo, il libro offre però un ampio repertorio di fonti e dettagli relativi alla vicenda, con continui paragoni e rimandi all'epidemia di HIV/AIDS che aveva colpito le Americhe alla fine del XX secolo, gli anni corrispondenti alla stesura del libro.
Uno sguardo al passato per impedire il ripetersi degli stessi errori nell'affrontare quella parte di società legata alla trasmissione di una nuova malattia o di vecchi ritorni (come la TBC resistente agli antibiotici o vecchi virus tornati in auge per colpa del cambio di percezio e del rischio).
Quello che emerge dalla lettura è che, rispetto ai primi anni del 1900, oggi non è cambiato nulla... anzi, tutto può solo peggiorare.
December 17, 2007
'Typhoid Mary' has become a catchphrase for disease, pestilence, and death. Most people have heard the nickname, but few know the particulars. Judith Walzer Leavitt takes a legendary figure in the history of public health protection and humanizes her. In so doing, Leavitt also examines the age-old dilemma of individual liberty vs public safety.
Typhoid Mary was an Irish immigrant cook named Mary Mallon, who spent decades as a prisoner / guest of the New York Public Health Department. As a healthy carrier, she did not exhibit typhoid symptoms herself, but the disease was transmitted via the food she prepared. Her refusal to seek a different livelihood, and aggressive deameanor toward health officials, resulted in her confinement on North Brother Island, a quarantine location, where she died in 1938.
"Typhoid Mary: Captive to the Public Health" is not just a history or biography. Mary Mallon, as a healthy carrier of a deadly disease, has her modern equal in the millions of people who are HIV positive or suffer from drug-resistant tuberculosis. Leavitt raises uncomfortable questions about quarantine practices and examines how past treatment of the afflicted has been based on gender and socio-economic status. Statistics and sociological arguments have a strong presence in each chapter, but they don't detract from the book's appeal to the lay reader.
"Typhoid Mary" is an uneasy reminder that history doesn't always repeat itself- sometimes it never goes away in the first place.
Typhoid Mary was an Irish immigrant cook named Mary Mallon, who spent decades as a prisoner / guest of the New York Public Health Department. As a healthy carrier, she did not exhibit typhoid symptoms herself, but the disease was transmitted via the food she prepared. Her refusal to seek a different livelihood, and aggressive deameanor toward health officials, resulted in her confinement on North Brother Island, a quarantine location, where she died in 1938.
"Typhoid Mary: Captive to the Public Health" is not just a history or biography. Mary Mallon, as a healthy carrier of a deadly disease, has her modern equal in the millions of people who are HIV positive or suffer from drug-resistant tuberculosis. Leavitt raises uncomfortable questions about quarantine practices and examines how past treatment of the afflicted has been based on gender and socio-economic status. Statistics and sociological arguments have a strong presence in each chapter, but they don't detract from the book's appeal to the lay reader.
"Typhoid Mary" is an uneasy reminder that history doesn't always repeat itself- sometimes it never goes away in the first place.
August 24, 2014
DNF
This was my second attempt to read this book.
Dry, boring and repetitive. I give up!
October 21, 2020
Her name was Mary Mallon. Immigrant, Irish, cook, healthy woman. Those are the details that are rarely considered when thinking about Typhoid Mary. Mary Mallon was an independent woman who happened to be a healthy carrier of the typhoid bacilli. As an Irish immigrant woman, Mallon was trained to be a domestic cook and worked for many prominent families in New York in the early 20th century. Twenty-two people would get typhoid fever and one would die as the disease was passed from her through her cooking. Authorities tracked her down and quarantined her multiple times and Mallon would spend over twenty years away from the general public on North Brother Island across the river from the Bronx.
Leavitt weaves the story of Mallon's life along with medical explanations of typhoid fever in layman's terms. Leavitt humanizes Mallon, showing the prejudices that were lopped on her because of her class and societal status. She was demonized in journals and news articles, branded with the Typhoid Mary moniker, while others like her, namely male healthy carriers were ignored by the media. Leavitt also lays the onus on Mallon, for not staying true to the promises she made to discontinue cooking for others whenever she was released from quarantine, which led to more infections of employers and their family members.
Leavitt wrote this book during the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis, making comparisons to how public health issues were handled on opposite ends of the 20th century. There are certainly lessons to be learned today, as the US once against handles a health crisis with the COVID pandemic.
Leavitt weaves the story of Mallon's life along with medical explanations of typhoid fever in layman's terms. Leavitt humanizes Mallon, showing the prejudices that were lopped on her because of her class and societal status. She was demonized in journals and news articles, branded with the Typhoid Mary moniker, while others like her, namely male healthy carriers were ignored by the media. Leavitt also lays the onus on Mallon, for not staying true to the promises she made to discontinue cooking for others whenever she was released from quarantine, which led to more infections of employers and their family members.
Leavitt wrote this book during the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis, making comparisons to how public health issues were handled on opposite ends of the 20th century. There are certainly lessons to be learned today, as the US once against handles a health crisis with the COVID pandemic.
December 2, 2025
the story is super interesting but the book itself is kinda repetitive and written annoyingly imo
August 8, 2019
Lots of good information, but rather repetitive.
December 26, 2013
This book wasn't the easiest read- it's very academic and dry, with surprisingly very little information given about "Typhoid Mary" Mallon. Apparently not much is known about her life, so the book seems drawn-out and slow at points. Despite that, it makes a poignant case for Mary's unfair judicial ruling, being excommunicated to an island off Manhattan where she posed no threat to public health. The photos and newspaper reprints throughout the book were a nice touch.
January 5, 2014
I took a look at this book because the author of "Fever" (Mary Beth Keene) wrote that this book was central to the research for her novel. I found the novel so interesting that I wanted to check the known facts. After reading halfway through, it appeared that all the major facts about Typhoid Mary were included in the novel version. Much of the writing in this book was repetitive so I felt I had the gist at the halfway mark.
November 18, 2012
This is a great book on several levels. It provides accurate and detailed information on a very abused woman - Mary Mallon (better known as Typhoid Mary). Thus it is a great reference.
Second, it really shows all sides of a complex problem - when should common good (preventing the spread of typhoid fever) supercede individuals rights. Mary Mallon was quarantined for over 20 years on an island.
Second, it really shows all sides of a complex problem - when should common good (preventing the spread of typhoid fever) supercede individuals rights. Mary Mallon was quarantined for over 20 years on an island.
Read
August 12, 2012Sort or repetative but good none the less.
May 26, 2019
While the topic, Mary Mallon aka Typhoid Mary is interesting, this book reads like a dissertation, really difficult to get through. Anthony Bourdain's book on her is much, much better.
February 14, 2025
DNF
Really needs a good copyeditor on this, made it through the intro and 1st chapter but the repetition of exactly the same facts was infuriating
Really needs a good copyeditor on this, made it through the intro and 1st chapter but the repetition of exactly the same facts was infuriating
May 1, 2011
Like most people my age, I wasn't even sure if "Typhoid Mary" was a real person. I thought it was just some stereotype of dirty immigrant women spreading disease wherever they go. However, an Irish born cook named Mary Mallon was the real person behind the stereotype. She cooked for New York's well-to-do at the turn of the 20th century, until she was hauled off to Willard Parker Hospital to be tested for carrying typhoid bacillus (even though she exhibited no symptoms of the disease), and then isolated on North Brother Island when the test came back positive. After being released a few years later, she was returned to the island again (this time permanently) when she was discovered cooking at a children's hospital, after failing to make a sufficient living as a laundress.
Since I found Mallon's case so fascinating, I'm going to briefly share it with all of you to see if I can pique anyone else's interest.
Mary Mallon emigrated from Ireland in 1883 as a teenager. She eventually began earning a comfortable living as a cook for wealthy families in and around New York City. Several (but not all) of the families she worked for had outbreaks of typhoid fever. In 1906 one of the families she had worked for hired a private investigator to determine the cause of the typhoid outbreak in their house (not an uncommon action in those days). George Soper traced the outbreak to Mallon (after researching her background) and unsuccessfully tried to obtain stool samples from Mallon to confirm the diagnosis. While the medical community was becoming quickly acquainted with the concept of healthy carriers of disease, the public knew nothing of it. As a single immigrant woman she was used to defending herself against opportunistic attacks and refused to believe or even listen to anything health department officials had to say. Eventually the police were called in and Mallon was taken to Willard Parker Hospital to be tested for typhoid. The tests came back positive and she was then moved to North Brother Island for isolation while the health department decided what to do with her.
Two years later, still in isolation, Mallon successfully obtained a habeus corpus hearing with the New York Supreme Court. While sympathetic, the judge refused to let a known disease carrier free. However, when a new head of the health department took over the next year, he released Mallon on the condition that she promised to never cook again (handling others' food was the main way carriers spread typhoid). He initially helped her find a job in a laundry, but after a few years she disappeared from the health department's watch. When investigating a typhoid outbreak at a children's hospital in 1915, a cook known as Mrs. Brown is discovered to be the cause of the outbreak, and investigators discover that she is really Mary Mallon. This time she's returned to North Brother Island for the rest of her life. To her dying day Mallon vehemently defended her innocence, claiming that the health department was persecuting her because she was Irish and that she'd never had typhoid in her life.
While this is all weird enough, in the years after Mallon's discovery, the city of New York identified and monitored hundreds of healthy typhoid carriers, only one of whom was ever isolated long term, and there's evidence to suggest that he did so willingly. Mallon was put in the difficult situation of being the first person identified in a new class of threats to the public health. Since she was handled by those in charge of the public health, they obviously put those concerns above any about Mallon's personal freedoms. Throughout the book, I kept wondering, why didn't they just teach her how to wash her hands better or train her for another kind of work (aside from cooking for others, there was little healthy carriers could do to spread the disease), but even with other carriers the health department seemed unwilling to help them enter a new profession.
Not to put all the blame on the health department, Mallon's stubbornness and unwillingness to believe that she was a carrier of typhoid made any compromise between herself and the health department impossible, so that authorities, not understanding her strenuous refusals to cooperate, were forced to contain the threat she posed any way they could.
This is the book for the facts on Mary Mallon's strange case, especially from a medical standpoint. Leavitt was very thorough in her investigations. But that's also why the book drags a little in the beginning. As Leavitt begins to delve into social conditions of the time and more purely historical research, the book starts to pick up. She manages to separate the woman from the stereotype and explains the series of events that has forever intertwined the two. While the scientific background is important for understanding the medical community's reactions to Mallon, finding a way to condense it, or make it less tedious, would go a long way to making this book more popular with a general audience.
Since I found Mallon's case so fascinating, I'm going to briefly share it with all of you to see if I can pique anyone else's interest.
Mary Mallon emigrated from Ireland in 1883 as a teenager. She eventually began earning a comfortable living as a cook for wealthy families in and around New York City. Several (but not all) of the families she worked for had outbreaks of typhoid fever. In 1906 one of the families she had worked for hired a private investigator to determine the cause of the typhoid outbreak in their house (not an uncommon action in those days). George Soper traced the outbreak to Mallon (after researching her background) and unsuccessfully tried to obtain stool samples from Mallon to confirm the diagnosis. While the medical community was becoming quickly acquainted with the concept of healthy carriers of disease, the public knew nothing of it. As a single immigrant woman she was used to defending herself against opportunistic attacks and refused to believe or even listen to anything health department officials had to say. Eventually the police were called in and Mallon was taken to Willard Parker Hospital to be tested for typhoid. The tests came back positive and she was then moved to North Brother Island for isolation while the health department decided what to do with her.
Two years later, still in isolation, Mallon successfully obtained a habeus corpus hearing with the New York Supreme Court. While sympathetic, the judge refused to let a known disease carrier free. However, when a new head of the health department took over the next year, he released Mallon on the condition that she promised to never cook again (handling others' food was the main way carriers spread typhoid). He initially helped her find a job in a laundry, but after a few years she disappeared from the health department's watch. When investigating a typhoid outbreak at a children's hospital in 1915, a cook known as Mrs. Brown is discovered to be the cause of the outbreak, and investigators discover that she is really Mary Mallon. This time she's returned to North Brother Island for the rest of her life. To her dying day Mallon vehemently defended her innocence, claiming that the health department was persecuting her because she was Irish and that she'd never had typhoid in her life.
While this is all weird enough, in the years after Mallon's discovery, the city of New York identified and monitored hundreds of healthy typhoid carriers, only one of whom was ever isolated long term, and there's evidence to suggest that he did so willingly. Mallon was put in the difficult situation of being the first person identified in a new class of threats to the public health. Since she was handled by those in charge of the public health, they obviously put those concerns above any about Mallon's personal freedoms. Throughout the book, I kept wondering, why didn't they just teach her how to wash her hands better or train her for another kind of work (aside from cooking for others, there was little healthy carriers could do to spread the disease), but even with other carriers the health department seemed unwilling to help them enter a new profession.
Not to put all the blame on the health department, Mallon's stubbornness and unwillingness to believe that she was a carrier of typhoid made any compromise between herself and the health department impossible, so that authorities, not understanding her strenuous refusals to cooperate, were forced to contain the threat she posed any way they could.
This is the book for the facts on Mary Mallon's strange case, especially from a medical standpoint. Leavitt was very thorough in her investigations. But that's also why the book drags a little in the beginning. As Leavitt begins to delve into social conditions of the time and more purely historical research, the book starts to pick up. She manages to separate the woman from the stereotype and explains the series of events that has forever intertwined the two. While the scientific background is important for understanding the medical community's reactions to Mallon, finding a way to condense it, or make it less tedious, would go a long way to making this book more popular with a general audience.
February 26, 2016
This would have reminded me of a text book if the text book had been written by an unorganized amateur.
That is not to say that there is not some good information in this book, there is. But good luck finding it among the babble.
A little provided history on Mary Mallon:
"This woman is a great menace to health, a danger to community, and she has been made a prisoner on that account. In her wake are many cases of typhoid fever," which she caused when she "unwittingly disseminated--or as we might say, sprinkled--germs in various households."
Mary Mallon was the Christian name of 'Typhoid Mary.' In the early 1900s, she was the first documented person to be a healthy carrier of typhoid fever--a real killer in the time period. Mary herself had never been sick. And in fact, during this time period she was one of the first people to be recognized as a "healthy carrier." Prior to Mary, diseases were thought to spread by illness, poor hygiene, or contaminated water and milk. So when a doctor literally tracked the uneducated Mary down at work and accused her of killing people with a disease she has never had, well Mary was not at all believing.
During this time period, Irish immigrants were looked down on and persecuted. They had crap jobs and were not thought well of. Irish woman had it even worse. Mary herself was a very good cook and made her living as such. So when a doctor showed up and accused her of spreading "germs" that killed, she believed him daft because everyone knew how people got sick. Then the doctor showed up in her home and convinced her roommate to let him wait in her private room. And then the doctor had her taken to a hospital and tried to convince her to have her gallbladder surgically removed. Needless to say, Mary was scared and convinced that these doctors were trying to kill her. Naturally she not only refused the treatment, but ran away.
Herein lies Mary Mallon's particular tragedy. Not even her fellow carriers would claim her as their own. People accused of transmitting disease to others in the same ways that Mallon did thought themselves innocent, but believed the worst about her. She was dirty; they were clean. She was evil; they were good. She was deviant; they were normal. Alienated even from those who carried the same disease she did, Mary Mallon was truly alone.
Oh yes, there were other far more deadly people than our Typhoid Mary. Unfortunately the public were not as interested in them. Mary was the first and the most publicly denounced. She was the talisman that doctors used to prove that healthy people can spread the disease. She ran away. She hid. She kept cooking. Even after she was released from her confinement, she disregard a court order and "endangered" the public by making a living the only way she knew how. So she was drug away publicly and violently by the police not once, but twice. That made for a better story.
...any story "that did not cause its reader to rise out of his chair and cry, 'Great God!' was counted as a failure."
So you see what brought the rating up to 2 stars: the history.
Now for everything else. What a disorganized, unedited mess.
There was no timeline or general organization to the book. In addition, there has been gaps in the Mary Mallon story since it happened. The press did not report the truth and the doctors were not interested and Mary was not talking anyhow. So how did this author cope with historical gaps? Repetition. As in she bloody well repeated the same darn things over, and over, and over, and over again!
It. Was. Painful. To. Read.
It got to the point where I knew what the author was going to say next! She came up with dozens of ways to say the same thing. The words "let's examine" got tiresome. The prose was appalling. She even labeled photographs wrong! That calls the rest of the information into question, in my opinion. The read became a jumble where I was picking out the good information and sifting through the poor syntax.
There was some good history here or this would have been a 1 star book. Still, I will not be picking it up again. There are better books about Typhoid Mary out there. Trust me.
That is not to say that there is not some good information in this book, there is. But good luck finding it among the babble.
A little provided history on Mary Mallon:
"This woman is a great menace to health, a danger to community, and she has been made a prisoner on that account. In her wake are many cases of typhoid fever," which she caused when she "unwittingly disseminated--or as we might say, sprinkled--germs in various households."
Mary Mallon was the Christian name of 'Typhoid Mary.' In the early 1900s, she was the first documented person to be a healthy carrier of typhoid fever--a real killer in the time period. Mary herself had never been sick. And in fact, during this time period she was one of the first people to be recognized as a "healthy carrier." Prior to Mary, diseases were thought to spread by illness, poor hygiene, or contaminated water and milk. So when a doctor literally tracked the uneducated Mary down at work and accused her of killing people with a disease she has never had, well Mary was not at all believing.
During this time period, Irish immigrants were looked down on and persecuted. They had crap jobs and were not thought well of. Irish woman had it even worse. Mary herself was a very good cook and made her living as such. So when a doctor showed up and accused her of spreading "germs" that killed, she believed him daft because everyone knew how people got sick. Then the doctor showed up in her home and convinced her roommate to let him wait in her private room. And then the doctor had her taken to a hospital and tried to convince her to have her gallbladder surgically removed. Needless to say, Mary was scared and convinced that these doctors were trying to kill her. Naturally she not only refused the treatment, but ran away.
Herein lies Mary Mallon's particular tragedy. Not even her fellow carriers would claim her as their own. People accused of transmitting disease to others in the same ways that Mallon did thought themselves innocent, but believed the worst about her. She was dirty; they were clean. She was evil; they were good. She was deviant; they were normal. Alienated even from those who carried the same disease she did, Mary Mallon was truly alone.
Oh yes, there were other far more deadly people than our Typhoid Mary. Unfortunately the public were not as interested in them. Mary was the first and the most publicly denounced. She was the talisman that doctors used to prove that healthy people can spread the disease. She ran away. She hid. She kept cooking. Even after she was released from her confinement, she disregard a court order and "endangered" the public by making a living the only way she knew how. So she was drug away publicly and violently by the police not once, but twice. That made for a better story.
...any story "that did not cause its reader to rise out of his chair and cry, 'Great God!' was counted as a failure."
So you see what brought the rating up to 2 stars: the history.
Now for everything else. What a disorganized, unedited mess.
There was no timeline or general organization to the book. In addition, there has been gaps in the Mary Mallon story since it happened. The press did not report the truth and the doctors were not interested and Mary was not talking anyhow. So how did this author cope with historical gaps? Repetition. As in she bloody well repeated the same darn things over, and over, and over, and over again!
It. Was. Painful. To. Read.
It got to the point where I knew what the author was going to say next! She came up with dozens of ways to say the same thing. The words "let's examine" got tiresome. The prose was appalling. She even labeled photographs wrong! That calls the rest of the information into question, in my opinion. The read became a jumble where I was picking out the good information and sifting through the poor syntax.
There was some good history here or this would have been a 1 star book. Still, I will not be picking it up again. There are better books about Typhoid Mary out there. Trust me.
June 24, 2015
With 170 measles cases reported in the United States during the first two months of 2015*, Judith Walzer-Leavitt's Typhoid Mary: Captive to the Public's Health is a timely read in that the author lends a voice of reason to a perennial question: Which is more important, the public's health or inalienable human rights? Rather than providing an answer to this question, however, the author instead takes an impartial approach by revealing the complexities of the debate, and she does so in a manner that is both informative and accessible.
In one sense Waltzer-Leavitt provides us with a biography of Mary Mallon, an Irish immigrant living in New York City at the turn of the19th century whose liberty was denied for over twenty-six years despite never committing a crime. In another sense she describes a kind of manhunt, that is, a manhunt to track down and stop an actual killer in the form of typhoid bacilli. The reader, at times, may even get the sense that the bacterium is as much the main character as Mary. Simultaneously, Waltzer-Leavitt's examination of this case is comprehensive and well organized, moving from science, to law, ethics, and then social perspectives regarding attitudes of the time toward immigrant populations in America. The author manages to lend credence to each point of view in a balanced manner while still making clear her attempt to seek justice for Mary, that is, to bring the infamous "Typhoid Mary"out of the shadow of villainy and into her rightful place as a woman who played an integral part in the development of public health policy.
I read this book out of sheer curiosity. I wanted to learn more about the woman who was stripped of her name in favor of one that dehumanized her, a name that still evokes fear in a society that has a tendency to glean over the facts in favor of sensationalism. Instead, what I received was a thought provoking account of a woman's life in the early 20th century, a period in history when great strides were made in public health. For this reason alone, the book is a worthy read; however, it is likewise important because it forces the reader to see that these issues are as relevant today as they were then. Just turn on the news and witness the current debate between public health policy makers, pharmaceutical companies and anti-vaccinators. In the end, Typhoid Mary: Captive to the Public's Health by Judith Waltzer-Leavitt does not determine which side of the argument wins, but more importantly demonstrates that coming to an agreement, in fact, may be impossible.
*CDC, 2015
October 17, 2015
I really enjoyed this book. This book talks about Typhoid Mary. It talks about different perceptions, hers and the society in general at that time, the early 1900s both from the scientific and the press viewpoints. It talks about attitudes and perceptions about racism and fear now and present. It paints a real picture of fear of disease, scientific progress and fear (real or percieved). It is a very good public health book.
Her name was Mary Mallon and she was a "healthy carrier". Mary was an Irish immigrant domestic worker, she was a cook. This book discusses her capture in 1907 by S. Joephine Baker (NYU Health Department officer). There was an outbreak of Typhoid Fever within the househols she worked in. This was discovered by Dr. Soper, an epidemiologist who had her stool samples tested and tested positive. He notified the health department and they captured her and improsioned her for a few years then released her. They found her a few years later cooking at a hospital under the alias, Mrs. Brown and she was confined for the rest of her life.
She contracted Typhoid Fever, it is believed in 1900, had mild symptoms and carried the disease for the rest of her life. She never admitted that she had typhoid fever. Her life and detention at New York Brother Island for half of her life. The New York health department perceived her as "menace to society" and kept her in quarantine from 1914 to her death in 1938. The term Typhoid Mary has lived beyond her years and been become a symbol of evil. This book explores those attitudes. There were others at that time that were men and did not received the same kind treatment. They were released back into society and caused more epidemics.
This is a very book that talks about the true gender gap and the reach of the health department in an epidemic to "to protect society".
Her name was Mary Mallon and she was a "healthy carrier". Mary was an Irish immigrant domestic worker, she was a cook. This book discusses her capture in 1907 by S. Joephine Baker (NYU Health Department officer). There was an outbreak of Typhoid Fever within the househols she worked in. This was discovered by Dr. Soper, an epidemiologist who had her stool samples tested and tested positive. He notified the health department and they captured her and improsioned her for a few years then released her. They found her a few years later cooking at a hospital under the alias, Mrs. Brown and she was confined for the rest of her life.
She contracted Typhoid Fever, it is believed in 1900, had mild symptoms and carried the disease for the rest of her life. She never admitted that she had typhoid fever. Her life and detention at New York Brother Island for half of her life. The New York health department perceived her as "menace to society" and kept her in quarantine from 1914 to her death in 1938. The term Typhoid Mary has lived beyond her years and been become a symbol of evil. This book explores those attitudes. There were others at that time that were men and did not received the same kind treatment. They were released back into society and caused more epidemics.
This is a very book that talks about the true gender gap and the reach of the health department in an epidemic to "to protect society".
September 28, 2014
This book was an interesting tale about "Typhoid Mary," providing multiple perspectives on the historical story of the isolated Mary Mallon who was a healthy carrier of the Typhoid bacteria and infected many people through her cooking. However, the book was very repetitive. If you read the introduction and chapter one, you wonder what else the author could possibly have to say about the case ... and the answer is "not much." The author desires to show that there are many prejudices and social discriminations that become a part of public health policy, especially when dealing with epidemic diseases. Leavitt compares the story of "Typhoid Mary" with the situation of AIDS infected minorities in the 80s and 90s. The issue of individual freedom vis-a-vis public safety runs through the whole book. Although the book effectively portrays the polarity between these two issues, the reader is not convinced by the end that we are any closer to a solution. Yet, this book is important in providing a seemingly more historically accurate portrayal of the case of "Typhoid Mary" and reminds us of the difficulty that we face as a society and as individuals in protecting public health and personal freedom.
January 14, 2015
This book was very interesting but only when you heard facts that were newly said in the book, otherwise it was quite repetitive. The story of Mary Mallon, or Typhoid Mary, could be summarized in 3 to 5 sentences, honestly. Nonetheless, the author finds it necessary to repeat the story of how Mallon became stigmatized through all sorts of different aspects and perspectives, such as: the medical perspective, the law's perspective, the cultural or sociological perspective, the media's perspective, so on and so forth. I honestly could not finish this book (leaving two chapters to go) and even though it is only about 250+ pages, it was like pulling teeth to read.
On a positive note, I am happy that I now know the history behind the title "Typhoid Mary" and can now use it (or not use it, most likely) mindfully for the fact that it has such a sad story behind it. Also, the book interested me to do my own research on what Typhoid Fever really entails and how it is still endemic in struggling countries such as sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. It was incredibly rampant from the 1700's- early 1900's but was reduced in respect of sanitation techniques, antibiotics, and chlorine being added to the water supply of America.
On a positive note, I am happy that I now know the history behind the title "Typhoid Mary" and can now use it (or not use it, most likely) mindfully for the fact that it has such a sad story behind it. Also, the book interested me to do my own research on what Typhoid Fever really entails and how it is still endemic in struggling countries such as sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. It was incredibly rampant from the 1700's- early 1900's but was reduced in respect of sanitation techniques, antibiotics, and chlorine being added to the water supply of America.
September 30, 2013
With accessible and readable prose, Judith Walzer Leavitt’s social history, "Typhoid Mary: Captive to the Public Health," chronicles the experience of Mary Mallon, who for unknowingly spreading disease through her cooking was sentenced, first in 1907 and again in 1915, by the New York City public health department to a total of twenty-six years of isolation on North Brother Island.
In addition, "Typhoid Mary" addresses the conflict of how to both protect the public health and uphold the rights and liberties of individuals. Using Mary Mallon is a case study, Leavitt applies her experience to contemporary crises, such as the rise of AIDS and drug-resistant tuberculosis, revealing the relevance of this text to both past and present issues.
Leavitt employs an effective and comprehensive argumentative structure, recreating and analyzing Mallon’s story from seven intersecting perspectives: 1) science and bacteriology, 2) public health policy, 3) the law and lawyers, 4) social expectations and prejudices, 5) the media, 6) Mary Mallon's own perspective and probable motivations, and 7) the lasting legacy of "Typhoid Mary."
In addition, "Typhoid Mary" addresses the conflict of how to both protect the public health and uphold the rights and liberties of individuals. Using Mary Mallon is a case study, Leavitt applies her experience to contemporary crises, such as the rise of AIDS and drug-resistant tuberculosis, revealing the relevance of this text to both past and present issues.
Leavitt employs an effective and comprehensive argumentative structure, recreating and analyzing Mallon’s story from seven intersecting perspectives: 1) science and bacteriology, 2) public health policy, 3) the law and lawyers, 4) social expectations and prejudices, 5) the media, 6) Mary Mallon's own perspective and probable motivations, and 7) the lasting legacy of "Typhoid Mary."
January 26, 2016
This came across as somewhat dated, as the author made repeated comparisons to the "recent" AIDS epidemic and the lessons learned from the treatment of Typhoid Mary. While the AIDS comparison is apt, the author kept bringing it back around to how "recent" it was and it lacked information from the last twenty years re AIDS. In today's climate, Ebola would be more applicable since it's the current public conversation. Or maybe even the anti-vaccination advocates, since it boils down to the rights of the individual versus the needs of society.
All in all, it was a pretty thorough examination of Mary Mallon's life and situation, with numerous views accounted for. I did find it somewhat repetitive at points, but it really was a study about how many different people could all have valid points, and how Mary Mallon was a reflection of the times she lived in. I was familiar with most of her direct story, but seeing how things played out (particularly around other "healthy carriers" who rebelled yet were not punished) was an interesting thing to consider.
All in all, it was a pretty thorough examination of Mary Mallon's life and situation, with numerous views accounted for. I did find it somewhat repetitive at points, but it really was a study about how many different people could all have valid points, and how Mary Mallon was a reflection of the times she lived in. I was familiar with most of her direct story, but seeing how things played out (particularly around other "healthy carriers" who rebelled yet were not punished) was an interesting thing to consider.
June 19, 2008
In modern parlance, the phrase "Typhoid Mary" conjures up visions of hundreds of people dying at her hand. In truth, Mary Mallon, the Irish cook who had this moniker forced upon her, made 22 people ill; only two actually died from typhoid fever. Mary was a curious case at the time; most people who transmitted typhoid had been ill once before. Mallon was what is known as a healthy carrier, which was virtually unheard of in her time. Leavitt details the case and describes other people who were more destructive in their spreading of this "dirty" disease; however, Mary Mallon received the brunt of everyone's scorn, culminating in her being locked up on North Brother Island for the last twenty or so years of her life. Leavitt makes the case that Mallon was blamed due to her social class, her ethnicity, and her gender. We will never know the truth, but the event must have been compelling enough for us to use the phrase, invoking a horrible memory of this woman, into the present day.
May 14, 2012
This book tells the story of Mary Mallon, aka "Typhoid Mary," who was the first healthy carrier of typhoid identified in the U.S. She was isolated in an island hospital for much of her adult life by the ruling of New York public health officials.
I liked Leavitt's treatment of this subject - it wasn't just Mallon's life story, but her life from different perspectives. The most fascinating question Leavitt poses is "Why?" Why did the NY Public Health Department quarantine Mary and not the other thousands of healthy carriers? Why did American culture latch on so steadfastly to the idea of Typhoid Mary? She has become part of the cultural lexicon not as the person she actually was, but as an icon representing disease and even malice.
I liked Leavitt's treatment of this subject - it wasn't just Mallon's life story, but her life from different perspectives. The most fascinating question Leavitt poses is "Why?" Why did the NY Public Health Department quarantine Mary and not the other thousands of healthy carriers? Why did American culture latch on so steadfastly to the idea of Typhoid Mary? She has become part of the cultural lexicon not as the person she actually was, but as an icon representing disease and even malice.
April 7, 2018
The book was interesting but dry and repetitive. I learned a great deal about the early stages of the CDC and some of their reasoning. It did also talk about "Typhoid Mary" in that she was a carrier although she claimed she never had the disease. She was isolated for 23 years but some of it was her own doing. I saw her own doing because they did let her out provided that she would continue to be tested and she would give up cooking, which is how she transferred the disease. She kept cooking because that was the only way she knew to support herself.
The book really goes into more detail about early discoveries about how to check and trace bacteria that causes disease. Full of information but not the easiest to read.
The book really goes into more detail about early discoveries about how to check and trace bacteria that causes disease. Full of information but not the easiest to read.
November 24, 2012
Interesting book about Mary Mallon and her imprisonment as a health menace. It's a very short story of a healthy woman who is the victim of her times, her temperament and science. Mary's story is told a few times in the book from several different points of view: Mary's own pov, that of science (public health), the press' exploitation, and the women's/lower class/Irish historical perspective.
On account of the various points of view, there is a great deal of repetition in the book.
Interesting that other typhoid carriers were treated much better than Mary.
There are parallels to the current AIDS and drug resistant TB epidemics.
On account of the various points of view, there is a great deal of repetition in the book.
Interesting that other typhoid carriers were treated much better than Mary.
There are parallels to the current AIDS and drug resistant TB epidemics.
January 20, 2009
I liked this book, but at the same time I think I probably should have read it a bit at a time. It opened up a lot of questions about patient rights, even in today's society and I liked that particular period in history, so I enjoyed the book.
That being said, it reads a bit like a textbook, or something you might read in a medical ethic class (which I liked, but not everyone would be interested in).
Rec'd from Talon2Claw and handed off to Karenlea during my California Bookcrossing Adventure 2.0.
That being said, it reads a bit like a textbook, or something you might read in a medical ethic class (which I liked, but not everyone would be interested in).
Rec'd from Talon2Claw and handed off to Karenlea during my California Bookcrossing Adventure 2.0.
October 6, 2009
I am currently taking a class about women in history. One of our big projects is to read a biography of a woman, ordinary or famous, who has passed away. Later on I need to do a literary review of this book. I chose Typhoid Mary as my subject and found the book later.
This book was written by a medical history professor at University of Wisconsin. It covers many perspectives on Typhoid Mary, including the question of if her civil liberties were stripped because single women were not considered breadwinners in the 1900's.
This book was written by a medical history professor at University of Wisconsin. It covers many perspectives on Typhoid Mary, including the question of if her civil liberties were stripped because single women were not considered breadwinners in the 1900's.
July 26, 2010
The author did a great job expressing the Mary we should know from the one we think we know as "Typhoid Mary." Although written at the height of the AIDS scare, she did not attempt to use "Typhoid Mary" as an excuse for modern day bacteriologists/virologists to incarcerate people on a whim. Instead, she exposes those people who attempt to use "Typhoid Mary" to advance their own agenda's.
With Obamacare coming, we all need to be on the look out for changes in public health policy and ensure that they do not infringe on our liberty.
With Obamacare coming, we all need to be on the look out for changes in public health policy and ensure that they do not infringe on our liberty.
April 14, 2014
As outbreaks make the news and make for big movies regularly, we may forget those diseases in the past that thoroughly frightened North American society. When you next go to your doctor’s office and are asked to put on a mask, feel fortunate that you are not Mary Mallon. In 1907 she inadvertently infected 22 people with deadly typhoid fever and was then incarcerated for the next 26 years until her death! She never exhibited any symptoms; she was a healthy carrier. A hefty price to pay for a crime she didn’t even know she was committing! A great and relevant read.
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