The Strange Case of the Walking Corpse: A Chronicle of Medical Mysteries, Curious Remedies, and Bizarre But True Healing Folklore

by Nancy Butcher

Book Overview

Did you know that bananas can cure warts; chewing on raw ginger can relieve nausea; sniffing vanilla can help suppress your appetite; or that raw potato can soothe a burn? Healing is full of curious... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1583331603
• ISBN13: 9781583331606
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.1" x 8.2"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

I couldn't put it down

This book is amazing! It includes incredible anecdotes about strange medical curiosities and diseases -- many of which are so bizarre that even our disease-obsessed media culture has somehow managed to ignore them. For someone who reads a lot of newspapers and magazines, I thought I had heard of them all. Hardly! This book is a virtual encyclopedia of strange disorders from the Jumping Frenchmen of Maine to Cotard Syndrome, which is the source for the book's title. In the latter disease, patients are convinced that they are dead -- and insist, even to the point of contradiction, that they are corpses. Just when you think you've read the most bizarre tale, the next one beats it. And the author has included excellent references to document these disorders so that you can distinguish the fact from the fiction.Bottom line: I couldn't put this book down. Organized into quick little chapters on topics such as parasites (you'll never guess the record for the longest parasite passed by a human being), sexual disorders, and deadly beauty treatments, the stories are written in easy-to-digest anecdotes and small vignettes. Not only is this a must-read book, but you'll also want to keep it around as a conversation piece for your guests, friends and family.

Oh please Jude Rouslin...

Jude obviously has way too much time on his hands. I'm fairly certain after reading his review that he simple read some news quip online and not the actual book. Thank you for boring us all with your failed attempt to look intelligent.