The Porcelain God: A Social History of the Toilet [Hardcover]

Julie L. Horan (Author), Deborah Frazier (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1996

Elvis died on one and Charles V, ruler of Germany and Spain, was born on one. Although we use them every day, most of us know very little about toilets. This unique toilet history contends that civilization began, not with the written word, but with the toilet. Through advertisements, diaries, museum catalogs and anecdotes, this book explores the history of the toilet and the customs and manners surrounding it. Illustrations.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 216 pages
• Publisher: Birch Lane Pr (September 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559723467
• ISBN-13: 978-1559723466
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #352,346 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Buyer's regret, October 4, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Porcelain God (Paperback)

I bought the book thinking I could use it as the basis for a lecture in my history classes. The book is replete with factual errors. The worst error within the first 20 pages: "The Romans found competition for England from the Vikings. ... By 71 AD York, north of London, boasted a large population of Vikings." (pp. 19-20) There were no Vikings in the 1st century AD, thank you. And by the time the Vikings reached the British Isles in the late 8th century, there certainly were no Romans to compete with them. There are many other mistakes in this book.

I could have forgiven some factual errors (although placing the Vikings in England in the 1st century is difficult since this is very basic information taught in western civ and world history classes. I remind the reader that the author was a doctoral student at one time), but I was very disappointed with the pictures as well. It is simply very hard to find pictures of historical toilets. As the author correctly states, this is a taboo topic. I was therefore hoping to find pictures of Harappan toilets, for example. There are very few pictures indeed. Additionally, the illustrator has simply made up pictures that could be taken by readers as real medieval manuscripts.

There are some interesting facts in this book. But given the glaring errors that I found in the first five minutes of reading, I therefore have doubts about the accuracy of these interesting facts. We really do need a good book on the history of the toilet. But this one falls short.

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You'd never think the world evolves around it, February 19, 2000

By 

Ty Rosenow (Seattle, Washington, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Porcelain God (Paperback)

This is one of the best books I had the pleasure of reading! I suggest this book to everyone who wants to learn about unusual historical information of how human excrement was disposed of. If you think about, the human civilization did evolve because of the toilet. In fact, cities, including Seattle, were built because of the toilet. Highly recommend it!

9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is Great!, December 14, 1999

By 

Kathy Paauw (Seattle , Washington) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Porcelain God (Paperback)

What a fun book. A fascinating history of the toilet,with enough humor to keep you turning the pages as fast as possible. I think it is a great gift idea for the peron who has everything. A must for every bathroom