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Doctor Olaf van Schuler's Brain
 
 
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Doctor Olaf van Schuler's Brain (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: grand duke, mad sister, Doctor Steenwycks, New York, Orchard Street (more...)
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)

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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.) ""
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved."


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

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)

More About the Author

Kirsten Menger-Anderson
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Customer Reviews

53 Reviews
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 (16)
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Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (53 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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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.
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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Dr. Olaf van Schuler's Brain, October 5, 2008
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!
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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
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.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars A collection of boring short stories
This book is a collection of short stories with the vague link of occurring in separate generations of one family. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Thomas Paul

5.0 out of 5 stars Medical, family and urban imagination
Kirsten Menger-Anderson's novel combines medical history, family relations, and a changing urban context in New York City from the 17th century to the present. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Jared Braiterman

5.0 out of 5 stars Elegant, Thought-provoking Tales of Misguided Faith
This beautifully written novel-in-stories follows the lives of twelve generations of New York City physicians who are trying to better the human condition, each in his or her own... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Donna G. Storey

3.0 out of 5 stars Clever, but surprisingly forgettable
The idea driving the book was a clever one, as it follows the generations of the family through their own special flavors of nuttiness. Read more
Published 7 months ago by M. Garrison

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, original literary tapestry
As many people have stated-this book is not for everyone. It is a panoramic voyage on many levels. It is a fascinating collection of human history and behavior-a great study for... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Nice Lady

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting
Ms. Menger has a good sense of language and writes quite well. This book is entertaining in a lot of ways. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Eric K. Talerico

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing -- a clever idea gone wrong
A related collection of short stories, starting in the 17th century and coming up to the present -- all of them related somehow with the brain and a family with its decendants... Read more
Published 9 months ago by G. Dowling

4.0 out of 5 stars A short strange trip
Let me get one thing out of the way: this book is not for everyone. I could fill a seven page review explaining what this book is not. Read more
Published 9 months ago by MJS

4.0 out of 5 stars This book was an enjoyable ride for my brain
I usually don't pick up a collection of short stories, so needless to say when I opened the book and began to read, I was in for a nice surprise. Read more
Published 9 months ago by T. Farabee

4.0 out of 5 stars Rich language -- amazing novel!
This was an unexpectedly good read; at first I wasn't sure if the novel was too quirky. But the author's writing is beautiful and eloquent; she chooses her words wisely, making... Read more
Published 9 months ago by booktalk29

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