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sonygaystation's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
sad
fast-paced
4.25
Really interesting and thorough on so many different types of poisons, but pretty hard to listen to at times. Hearing about how people died and how they used dogs for poison testing in graphic detail was really uncomfortable for me
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Murder, and Alcohol
Moderate: Cancer and Child death
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, and Abortion
rstegema's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
4.5
I'm really quite fascinated by the accomplishments of Alexander Gettler and Charles Norris and their pioneering of forensic science. This book is exceptionally informative and I'm looking forward to the other books in the Brandy Schillace Peculiar Book Club season 2 session!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Gore, and Medical content
Moderate: Suicide, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, and Mental illness
aeudaimonia's review against another edition
dark
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Frankly, I didn't have high hopes for The Poisoner's Handbook, expecting it to be, well, more of a handbook than a cohesive narrative. Happy to report I was mistaken! Informative but clearly written, it was one of the more enjoyable books I've read this year. I'd gladly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Jazz Age, as well as a more casual interest in chemistry.
The book's content and prose earns a full five stars; the structure, however, left me somewhat dissatisfied. Blum organizes the book by poison (with chapters titled "Wood Alcohol," "Cyanides," etc) but tells the narrative more or less chronologically--an ambitious structure, with varying degrees of success. Most straightforward are the earlier chapters, when the Medical Examiner's Office was in its infancy. As the book progresses, however, Blum adds shorter anecdotes about Prohibition and the bootlegging business, New York street gangs, and poison cases unrelated to that chapter's nominal poison but chronologically relevant. All these narrative threads end up obscuring the heart of the chapter; I often wondered, "How did we get here?" regarding information that I'd otherwise have eaten up without a second thought.
Otherwise, though, this was masterfully crafted and a fantastic introduction to the period.
The book's content and prose earns a full five stars; the structure, however, left me somewhat dissatisfied. Blum organizes the book by poison (with chapters titled "Wood Alcohol," "Cyanides," etc) but tells the narrative more or less chronologically--an ambitious structure, with varying degrees of success. Most straightforward are the earlier chapters, when the Medical Examiner's Office was in its infancy. As the book progresses, however, Blum adds shorter anecdotes about Prohibition and the bootlegging business, New York street gangs, and poison cases unrelated to that chapter's nominal poison but chronologically relevant. All these narrative threads end up obscuring the heart of the chapter; I often wondered, "How did we get here?" regarding information that I'd otherwise have eaten up without a second thought.
Otherwise, though, this was masterfully crafted and a fantastic introduction to the period.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
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