The Two-Headed Boy, and Other Medical Marvels

To this day, human fascination with so-called freaks, those unexplainable ""jokes of nature,"" as Bondeson calls them, has not abated. Not only supermarket tabloids but, according to the author, even the Internet is ""a mine of misinformation and bigoted nonsense on these matters."" Here is Bondeson once again (after Cabinet of Medical Curiosities) aiming to historicize this fascination. Unlike his previous study, Bondeson's new work attempts to offer more than a collection of marvels. He roams with intriguing results, from literary and cultural history to medical science and back again, focusing on the development of a scientific approach to these cases. As Bondeson looks at the cases of the so-called ""hog-faced women,"" ""dog-faced boys,"" and ""people with horns"" throughout history, he shows an acute sensitivity to the nuances of historical interpretation and for the humanity of those whose lives and conditions he chronicles. The story of the medieval woman who supposedly gave birth to 365 children in one day is a gem of historical reasoning and exposition. The book makes an important contribution to the histories of both science and popular culture. 85 b&w photos. (June)