# Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything - Hardcover

by **Lydia Kang** (Author), **Nate Pedersen** (Author)

What _won't_ we try in our quest for perfect health, beauty, and the fountain of youth?

Well, just imagine a time when doctors prescribed morphine for crying infants. When liquefied gold was touted as immortality in a glass. And when strychnine--yes, that strychnine, the one used in rat poison--was dosed like Viagra.

Looking back with fascination, horror, and not a little dash of dark, knowing humor, _Quackery_ recounts the lively, at times unbelievable, history of medical misfires and malpractices. Ranging from the merely weird to the outright dangerous, here are dozens of outlandish, morbidly hilarious "treatments"--conceived by doctors and scientists, by spiritualists and snake oil salesmen (yes, they literally tried to sell snake oil)--that were predicated on a range of cluelessness, trial and error, and straight-up scams. With vintage illustrations, photographs, and advertisements throughout, _Quackery_ seamlessly combines macabre humor with science and storytelling to reveal an important and disturbing side of the ever-evolving field of medicine.

  

### Author Biography

Lydia Kang, MD, is a practicing internal medicine physician and author of young adult fiction and adult fiction. Her YA novels include _Control, Catalyst_, and the upcoming _The November Girl_. Her adult fiction debut is entitled _A Beautiful Poison_. Her nonfiction has been published in _JAMA_, the _Annals of Internal Medicine_, and the _Journal of General Internal Medicine_.

This author is represented by the Hachette Speakers Bureau.  
Nate Pedersen is a librarian, historian, and freelance journalist with over 400 publications in print and online, including in the _Guardian_, the _Believer_, the _San Francisco Chronicle_, and the _Art of Manliness_.

**Number of Pages:** 352

**Dimensions:** 1.1 x 8.1 x 6.2 IN

**Illustrated:** Yes

**Publication Date:** October 17, 2017

## Details

- **Price:** 27.0 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 27.00 USD | In stock |

## Images

- Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything - Hardcover
- Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything - Hardcover

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