Doctor Olaf van Schuler's Brain (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: grand duke, mad sister, Doctor Steenwycks, New York, Orchard Street (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Menger-Anderson's vivid and original collection follows several generations of New York doctors and charts the social and political forces that shaped New York City from the 17th century to today. Dr. Olaf van Schuler emigrates from Holland to New Amsterdam in 1664 and continues his study of animal brains. After he has a child by Adalind Steenwycks, each subsequent generation spins out in its own story, concluding with Dr. Elizabeth Steenwycks, the medical researcher daughter of Dr. Stuart Steenwycks, a plastic surgeon dying of a rare and fatal brain malady. Each generation applies the then current medical wisdom to tasks as varied as explaining a death by spontaneous combustion, resuscitating a boy's corpse and using phrenology to predict human behavior. In the early 1970s, Americans' obsession with their body image arises in the woeful tale of Sheila Talbot, 21, whose leaky breast implants hark back to the less-than-helpful medicine practiced in previous generations. The reader can follow how far medicine has advanced, but, surprisingly, note how human suffering and misery hasn't come such a long way. (Oct.) ""
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From Booklist

The history of medicine and medical quackery, and one family’s personal history within that context, conjoin in this startlingly effective, even educational, novel. The Steenwyck family represents a long procession of brilliant doctors, going all the way back to colonial New York; but if brilliant, they also have quirky, even strange personalities. In a sequence of relatively short chapters, the author, eschewing a long, continuous narrative, preferring, in fact, an album of picture portraits, takes what amounts to snapshots of each Steenwyck doctor as the generations succeed one another, with each doctor’s “professional” activities speaking to the medical issue—or fad—of the day, from learning the mechanics of the brain to raising the dead to practicing phrenology to the Salk vaccine to the current popularity of breast implants. These individuals conduct their research and practices with typical Steenwyck passion, even in the face of skepticism, adversity, and disastrous results. For the most part, medical history cannot help but be interesting, and this author brings the subject to a fascinating glow; by extension, the story of the Steenwyck family becomes one thread of American cultural history. --Brad Hooper

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 290 pages
• Publisher: Algonquin Books (October 9, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565125614
• ISBN-13: 978-1565125612
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #200,890 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If Edward Gorey illustrated Edgar Allen Poe..., October 20, 2008

By	Karen Solomon (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The cover art caught my attention, and i was not disappointed - I absolutely loved this book. Dark, stormy, historically accurate, and a completely intoxicating read. Each short vingette melts into the next, illustrating the history of crackpot medicine while simultaneously outlining a family rife with madness and complex interpersonal relationships. Particularly for a first book, I was completely blown away. The author can truly turn a phrase that is both slight and deep.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dr. Olaf van Schuler's Brain, October 5, 2008

By	Jayne Pupek "Poet and Novelist. Author of For... (Richmond, VA) - See all my reviews

What a fascinating collection! Menger-Anderson takes readers through a vivid journey of medical history that begins in 1664 when Dr. Olaf van Schuler flees the Old World and arrives in New Amsterdam with his lunatic mother. The vignettes that follow continue through to the present day and introduce readers to subsequent generations of this eccentric family. As a student of psychology, I was familiar with many of the practices explored in this book, including phrenology, animal magnetism, electrical shock treatment, and psychosurgery. What this collection of stories does is place these procedures in the context of the human experience in a way that only good storytelling can. Menger-Anderson's smooth prose and understated tone allows the reader to draw his or her own conclusions. With her expertly rendered stories, Menger-Anderson has succeeded in giving the evolution of medical treatment a human face. Although I read many really good books, I don't find too many original ones. Dr. Olaf van Schuler's Brain is both a really good read and an original one. Don't miss it!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Short Story Collection in the Realm of the Highly Spectacular, February 2, 2009

By	Sacramento Book Review "SacramentoBookReview.com" (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews

Doctor Olaf van Schuler's Brain is a collection of short stories or vignettes, tracing the family of van Schuler, generation after generation, each crazy in their own way. Starting with Dr. Olaf, fleeing Europe to the city of New Amsterdam in 1664, with his lunatic mother, his medical tools and a book of medicines he developed himself, each chapter explores the changes in New York City and medical science through the often highly mad, always medically inclined van Schuler family. In so many ways, this book is special. The premise is wonderful, combining the history of medicine, often quack, all within one family, however odd. Set against the backdrop of New York, the story becomes more interesting, as the city itself almost becomes a character in the book, and you can see
the city develop, one generation at a time. The family of Olaf, inheriting his madness (or that of his mother) and obsessed with curing human suffering drive the stories along. The writing is incredibly well done, making these stories all joy to read, and becoming one of those books destined to be loaned to friends with the statement of "You MUST read this." The fact that this is Menger-Anderson's debut book, brings Doctor Olaf van Schuler's Brain into the realm of highly spectacular.