Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York by Deborah Blum

6 reviews

jbosio's review against another edition

dark informative medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma

Fascinating book on the many poisons we so carelessly included in our products we used everyday.

evgeorge's review against another edition

This wasn’t what I expected or hoped. It is a good overview of how one forensic scientist went up against the New York City boss system and developed the methodologies to identify the effects of chemicals on the human body. I had hoped for a narrower story about poisoners in the Jazz Age. Stories of chronic wasting disease, horrifying industrial injury and crumbling bones are not for me. Others with medical interest, less squeamish and visual may enjoy this. It is well written. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and Alcohol

honeygirl13's review against another edition

dark emotional informative

5.0

Wonderfully informative, utterly fascinating. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

jetpackdracula's review against another edition

adventurous informative mysterious medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Abortion

cnidariar3x's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

My favourite non-fiction I read in 2020.

I've read this twice over two years. Both times were a 4.5 for me.

I learned SO MUCH and really came to appreciate just how forensic medicine was essentially developed by two guys working on a shoestring budget against many odds. There's an appreciation for the medical system that derives from having read this book, but on the same hand, one will learn about all the

animal experimentation

that was necessary to get us to that point. It's a moral dilemma that really puts our modern privileges into perspective.

The book has several interweaving themes throughout the chapters, and if I have one criticism in the book, it can sometimes feel unfocused.

We often jump between the two scientists Gettler & Norris, to a brief history of prohibition, to the state of alcohol consumption at the time, to several notable poisoning cases.

Some chapters focus on some aspects more than others, which can be frustrating if one of the less interesting topics is given more time to shine.  

If one can handle reading about medical content, experimentation, and alcoholism, or are interested in this specific history in general, I can't recommend this book enough. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Death, and Medical content

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Suicide, Medical trauma, and Murder

Minor: Cancer and Abortion

junefish's review against another edition

dark funny informative mysterious fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, and Suicide

Minor: Cancer, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, and Vomit