Freak Babylon: An Illustrated History Of Teratology And Freakshows Download Free (EPUB, PDF)
FREAK BABYLON is a sometimes startling, sometimes disturbing documentary of the history of one of mankind's most fascinating sciences - teratology - and its dubious cultural correlative, the Freakshow, from ancient times to the present day. The book features over 200 rare and intriguing photos of human anomalies and covers the areas of scientific research, sideshows, cinema and body modification. By tracing the history of teratology - the classification of human anomalies - and looking at some famous case histories such as the Elephant Man and Johnny Eck, FREAK BABYLON shows how medical research and exploitation are often interlinked - and poses the question whether new sciences of cloning and genetic engineering are taking us back to the "dark days" of man-made freaks. Bonus features include: "The Elephant Man” by Sir Frederick Treves. Long out-of-print, this is the true account which inspired David Lynch's film of the same name. "Dissection of a Symelian Monster” by R C Benington. A classic illustrated account of an autopsy on a real-life human anomaly, from 1891 medical journals. An in-depth illustrated review of the controversial 1932 horror film Freaks, directed by Tod Browning. Tod Robbins' classic short story "Spurs”, which inspired Browning's Freaks.
Paperback: 176 pages
Publisher: Creation; Revised edition (April 21, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1840681608
ISBN-13: 978-1840681604
Product Dimensions: 7 x 0.3 x 10 inches
Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #217,187 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #15 in Books > Arts & Photography > Performing Arts > Theater > Circus #530 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Movies > History & Criticism #655 in Books > Science & Math > Biological Sciences > Anatomy
This book is not merely for the curiosity seeker. The author takes great pains to humanize the very human subjects included, and it leaves the reader less inclined to think of them as "freaks" and more worthy of compassion. These were very interesting people, living in very different times.Furthermore, this updated edition includes Sir Frederick Treves' original case study of "The Elephant Man "(Joseph Carey Merrick, whom Treves insists on calling "John"). There is a bonus appendix discussing Tod Browning and his swan-song film, "Freaks". And best of all (in addition to a very clinical "freak" autopsy report from 1891) is a reprint of the short story, "Spurs" by Tod Robbins that provided the basis for Browning's cult classic film, "Freaks".
I just started reading it, but cant believe the horrendous stuff that people used to do to other people. Im reading the introduction and it is talking about kings and noble people who purposely made amputees of people for their harems! Dwarves and giants were collected.
Covered a lot of information about the history of mankinds obsessions with "Freaks", including manmade freaks in the 1600's. I found it a fascinating book, and well written.
I know that the smiling, mammory unchallenged lady on the cover is a fake, but the majority of the other people in this book were real, documented circus exhibits. (freaks sounds too harsh).The book was a good read with more pictures than most.
Actually, for a book which claims to give an historical account of freakshows, this is not accurate at all - for example, the part about The Great Omi has some mistakes. But its a quite helpful book in terms of reference, since it cites a lots of important works about teratology.
Good and disturbing read...the pictures are horrifying and cause one to pause and be thankful one doesn't have the fate these people did. After doing extensive research in "disabilities" in general, I had to look at further readings, much better
i have seen a lot of freakshows and books on the subject.. i really thought i had seen everything! this book proved that i had not seen everything!!!!! you won't ever forget what you see in this book!!!!
A good overview of the freakshow genre.
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