Dr. Mutter's Marvels
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Dr. Mutter's Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine Hardcover – September 4, 2014
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Performance poet Aptowicz turns her attention to the birth of modern American Medicine, and the atonishing degree that it was influenced by one man, in this moving and delicately crafted biography... Aptowicz shows Mütter, beloved by his students, evolving from a mischievous, impatient young doctor to an increasingly spiritual man beset by premature illness, and her writing is as full of life as her subject." - PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (starred review)
"Biography of a flamboyant surgeon who helped transform American medicine... In her deftly crafted narrative, the author provides an absorbing account of the charismatic surgeon's life and career as well as a vivid look at the medical practices and prejudices of his time. His students adored him, and the disfigured flocked to him. European contemporaries saw him as a "dashing, outspoken, idiosyncratic American visionary." His life story will move many readers. His life story will move many readers." -- KIRKUS REVIEW (starred review)
"Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz's new biography, Dr. Mütter's Marvels, is set in Philadelphia in the middle of the 19th century... Mütter quickly rose through the medical elite, specializing in "radical surgery"--the art of fixing "monsters." Mütter did not just establish a museum of "marvels"; he was a marvel himself... Aptowicz approaches her subject with passion and finesse, so that the book to reads more like fiction than nonfiction, ensuring that it will appeal to a wide audience." -- Publishers Weekly (Galley Talk column)
"Aptowicz has penned a fast-moving and popular history of the early to mid-19th-century American and Parisian medical worlds, making the most of works by and about Mütter's contemporaries. The book connects the dots among the doctor's youthful dandyism, his attractiveness, his kindness toward his patients, and his fascination with what we would today call reconstructive plastic surgery, of which he was a pioneer... Written for the general public, this will be of great interest to large public libraries..." -- LIBRARY JOURNAL (starred review)
"Ms. Aptowicz rescues Mütter the man from undeserved obscurity, recreating his short life and hard times with wit, energy and gusto. Her book, like the Mütter Museum, is a reminder that the course of human suffering and the progress of medical science are often messy, complex and stranger than can be imagined." -- THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
"Aptowicz rescues Mütter the man from undeserved obscurity, recreating his short life and hard times with wit, energy and gusto."
—Wall Street Journal
"An extraordinary, moving and humbling story about a remarkable and compassionate surgeon who changed the face of medicine forever. Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz immerses us in the strange world of Dr. Thomas Mütter and unfolds the tale of his pioneering approach to surgery with verve, wit and sensitivity. We are all of us the richer for Dr. Mütter’s visionary work and the legacy he left us in the shape of one of the world’s most beguiling museums."
—Wendy Moore, author of The Knife Man: Blood, Body Snatching and the Birth of Modern Surgery
"Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz has not just written a highly readable and affecting biography of the singularly debonair doctor, the ameliorator of deformities of skin and bone, and the beloved teacher behind Philadelphia’s world-renowned Mütter Museum. She has given us a stirring account of the exigencies of medical practice in nineteenth century Philadelphia; the consequential controversies; the not-so-petty rivalries; the ghastly bravura of medically sanctioned spectacles; and, the outcomes for patients, then and now, of a profession divided and at odds. An indispensable companion to Philadelphia’s Mütter Museum, Dr. Mütter’s Marvels will enable visitors to encounter the collections in an entirely new and important way."
—Mary Cappello, author of Swallow: Foreign Bodies, Their Ingestion, Inspiration and the Curious Doctor who Extracted Them
"Biography of a flamboyant surgeon who helped transform American medicine... In her deftly crafted narrative, the author provides an absorbing account of the charismatic surgeon's life and career as well as a vivid look at the medical practices and prejudices of his time. His students adored him, and the disfigured flocked to him. European contemporaries saw him as a "dashing, outspoken, idiosyncratic American visionary." His life story will move many readers. His life story will move many readers." -- KIRKUS REVIEW (starred review)
"Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz's new biography, Dr. Mütter's Marvels, is set in Philadelphia in the middle of the 19th century... Mütter quickly rose through the medical elite, specializing in "radical surgery"--the art of fixing "monsters." Mütter did not just establish a museum of "marvels"; he was a marvel himself... Aptowicz approaches her subject with passion and finesse, so that the book to reads more like fiction than nonfiction, ensuring that it will appeal to a wide audience." -- Publishers Weekly (Galley Talk column)
"Aptowicz has penned a fast-moving and popular history of the early to mid-19th-century American and Parisian medical worlds, making the most of works by and about Mütter's contemporaries. The book connects the dots among the doctor's youthful dandyism, his attractiveness, his kindness toward his patients, and his fascination with what we would today call reconstructive plastic surgery, of which he was a pioneer... Written for the general public, this will be of great interest to large public libraries..." -- LIBRARY JOURNAL (starred review)
"Ms. Aptowicz rescues Mütter the man from undeserved obscurity, recreating his short life and hard times with wit, energy and gusto. Her book, like the Mütter Museum, is a reminder that the course of human suffering and the progress of medical science are often messy, complex and stranger than can be imagined." -- THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
"Aptowicz rescues Mütter the man from undeserved obscurity, recreating his short life and hard times with wit, energy and gusto."
—Wall Street Journal
"An extraordinary, moving and humbling story about a remarkable and compassionate surgeon who changed the face of medicine forever. Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz immerses us in the strange world of Dr. Thomas Mütter and unfolds the tale of his pioneering approach to surgery with verve, wit and sensitivity. We are all of us the richer for Dr. Mütter’s visionary work and the legacy he left us in the shape of one of the world’s most beguiling museums."
—Wendy Moore, author of The Knife Man: Blood, Body Snatching and the Birth of Modern Surgery
"Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz has not just written a highly readable and affecting biography of the singularly debonair doctor, the ameliorator of deformities of skin and bone, and the beloved teacher behind Philadelphia’s world-renowned Mütter Museum. She has given us a stirring account of the exigencies of medical practice in nineteenth century Philadelphia; the consequential controversies; the not-so-petty rivalries; the ghastly bravura of medically sanctioned spectacles; and, the outcomes for patients, then and now, of a profession divided and at odds. An indispensable companion to Philadelphia’s Mütter Museum, Dr. Mütter’s Marvels will enable visitors to encounter the collections in an entirely new and important way."
—Mary Cappello, author of Swallow: Foreign Bodies, Their Ingestion, Inspiration and the Curious Doctor who Extracted Them
About the Author
Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz is an award-winning writer of Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam and popular touring poet and spoken word performer. She lives in Austin, Texas.
More About the Author
Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz is author of the nonfiction book, DR MUTTER'S MARVELS: A TRUE STORY OF INTRIGUE AND INNOVATION AT THE DAWN OF MODERN MEDICINE.
She is also the author of six books of poetry -- THE YEAR OF NO MISTAKES (2013), EVERYTHING IS EVERYTHING (2010), OH TERRIBLE YOUTH (2007), WORKING CLASS REPRESENT (2004), HOT TEEN SLUT (2001) and DEAR FUTURE BOYFRIEND (2000), which are currently available on Write Bloody Publishing -- as well as second book of nonfiction: WORDS IN YOUR FACE: TWENTY YEARS OF THE NEW YORK CITY POETRY SLAM, which Billy Collins wrote "leaves no doubt that the slam poetry scene has achieved legitimacy and taken its rightful place on the map of contemporary literature"
Her recent awards include the ArtsEdge Writer-In-Residency at the University of Pennsylvania (2010-2011), a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Poetry (2011) and the Amy Clampitt Residency (2013). She lives in Austin, TX, with her two eccentric rescue dachshunds, Max & Alvy.
For more information -- including tour dates, videos of performances and links to her work -- please visit her website at www.aptowicz.com.
She is also the author of six books of poetry -- THE YEAR OF NO MISTAKES (2013), EVERYTHING IS EVERYTHING (2010), OH TERRIBLE YOUTH (2007), WORKING CLASS REPRESENT (2004), HOT TEEN SLUT (2001) and DEAR FUTURE BOYFRIEND (2000), which are currently available on Write Bloody Publishing -- as well as second book of nonfiction: WORDS IN YOUR FACE: TWENTY YEARS OF THE NEW YORK CITY POETRY SLAM, which Billy Collins wrote "leaves no doubt that the slam poetry scene has achieved legitimacy and taken its rightful place on the map of contemporary literature"
Her recent awards include the ArtsEdge Writer-In-Residency at the University of Pennsylvania (2010-2011), a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Poetry (2011) and the Amy Clampitt Residency (2013). She lives in Austin, TX, with her two eccentric rescue dachshunds, Max & Alvy.
For more information -- including tour dates, videos of performances and links to her work -- please visit her website at www.aptowicz.com.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful
By
Jeffrey P. Seasholtz
on September 4, 2014
Format: Hardcover
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If you have ever been to the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia, which houses one of the largest collections of medical oddities in America, it is more likely you will walk out of the museum with your head full of questions such as "Why did that woman turn into soap?" and "How did that guy walk around with a 300 pound colon?" However, you might not ask yourself, "Who collected all of this weird, freaky stuff and why?" and that's what Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz's new book seeks to answer.
Who was Thomas Dent Mutter?
Turns out he was one of the most innovative characters in early medical history who revolutionized the practice of plastic surgery, the use of ether and clean instruments during surgery and pretty much the concept of outpatient care!
The author does a great job taking us back to the pre-Civil War era of medicine in Philadelphia and to the founding of the Jefferson Medical College where Mutter lectured and performed his surgeries. It's amazing how crude and primitive seems compared to the state of the medical advances we have today.
I don't want to spoil too much of the book here, but I found it to be a very engaging read. If you like David McCullough or Erik Larson's books, you are going to enjoy the fascinating story of Mutter!
Also, there are lots of pictures scattered throughout the book and most chapters start with words of wisdom from Mutter himself! A very well-designed book!
Who was Thomas Dent Mutter?
Turns out he was one of the most innovative characters in early medical history who revolutionized the practice of plastic surgery, the use of ether and clean instruments during surgery and pretty much the concept of outpatient care!
The author does a great job taking us back to the pre-Civil War era of medicine in Philadelphia and to the founding of the Jefferson Medical College where Mutter lectured and performed his surgeries. It's amazing how crude and primitive seems compared to the state of the medical advances we have today.
I don't want to spoil too much of the book here, but I found it to be a very engaging read. If you like David McCullough or Erik Larson's books, you are going to enjoy the fascinating story of Mutter!
Also, there are lots of pictures scattered throughout the book and most chapters start with words of wisdom from Mutter himself! A very well-designed book!
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
By
K. Eyer
on September 5, 2014
Format: Hardcover
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This book is phenomenal -- a non-fiction book that reads like a page-turner of a novel. (Think Devil in a White City or Into Thin Air). Dr. Mutter's Marvels traces tells the story of the life of Thomas Dent Mutter, but it is also an incredibly fascinating account of the birth of modern medicine. This is not a subject that is ordinarily at the top of my "to read" list, but Aptowicz has crafted it into a deeply compelling story -- I found myself wanting to get to bed early each night so that I could read more! The book is also extensively researched and sourced. Highly recommended!
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
By
Robert Telfer
on September 4, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
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this book is everything i want out of reading - intelligence, levity, perspective, stakes, and a wall full of eye diseases. it's the best thing i've read in at least a decade.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By
Jessica Voigts
on September 6, 2014
Format: Hardcover
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This is, hands-down, the best biography I’ve ever read. It’s an intimate glance into history, medicine, change, and compassion. It’s the finely crafted life story of a man that we should know, but sadly, many of us don’t. But that’s about to change, thanks to the hard work of writer, researcher, and poet Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz in her new book, Dr. Mütter’s Marvels.
Dr. Mütter’s Marvels is the story of Dr. Mütter, of course, but is also the history of a nation, a medical field, of everyday people that lived because of him. No dry tale, never fear - Aptowicz is a storyteller par excellence. She brings readers into history as fully as if we were there alongside Dr. Mütter, treating patients, teaching, full of curiosity, and always, always learning. In the 1800s, Philadelphia was the center of medical learning in the US, but was also rife with competing theories about medicine, germs, treatment protocol, and even rival medical schools. She makes Philadelphia in the 1800s come alive. The wealth of rich details and characters (and disagreements) populating the story make this book an extraordinary read.
Dr. Mütter’s Marvels is the story of Dr. Mütter, of course, but is also the history of a nation, a medical field, of everyday people that lived because of him. No dry tale, never fear - Aptowicz is a storyteller par excellence. She brings readers into history as fully as if we were there alongside Dr. Mütter, treating patients, teaching, full of curiosity, and always, always learning. In the 1800s, Philadelphia was the center of medical learning in the US, but was also rife with competing theories about medicine, germs, treatment protocol, and even rival medical schools. She makes Philadelphia in the 1800s come alive. The wealth of rich details and characters (and disagreements) populating the story make this book an extraordinary read.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By
Kim H-L
on September 5, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
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When I was a child, I was always the first to reserve our library's yearly edition of the Guinness Book of World Records to see the range and depth of human extremes. I loved everything Ripley's Believe it or Not, and any book I could find that examined what we now call "medical mysteries."
Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz has written a book that the adult me now absolutely savors. As one who appreciates the Mutter Museum, this book gives readers much more than a singular biography of Mutter. It examines the history of modern medicine and surgery from its gruesome beginnings in a pre-germ-theory and pre-anesthesia world. Aptowicz's vibrant, snappy chapters leave readers hanging on the edges of their seats as she moves between episodes in Mutter's life and the growth of Philadelphia's Jefferson Medical College. In doing so, Mutter and the American medical establishment emerge as legitimate and respectable forces of medical innovation and knowledge from the 1840s onward.
Some may critique the creative license taken in portraying Mutter, but I would argue that such liberties are necessary in engaging readers with the fully-developed character that emerged after years of extensive research. To see episodes of surgery "through" his eyes, to imagine his thoughts of compassion, and to revisit his reactions at anesthesia's first successes--these are what make this book an historical page-turner. The book is plenty packed with facts, figures, oddities, trivia, and photos to keep the purists happy. I happily keep this book next to other medical history favorites, such as The Great Influenza and The Ghost Map. Highly recommend to the spirited reader of history.
Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz has written a book that the adult me now absolutely savors. As one who appreciates the Mutter Museum, this book gives readers much more than a singular biography of Mutter. It examines the history of modern medicine and surgery from its gruesome beginnings in a pre-germ-theory and pre-anesthesia world. Aptowicz's vibrant, snappy chapters leave readers hanging on the edges of their seats as she moves between episodes in Mutter's life and the growth of Philadelphia's Jefferson Medical College. In doing so, Mutter and the American medical establishment emerge as legitimate and respectable forces of medical innovation and knowledge from the 1840s onward.
Some may critique the creative license taken in portraying Mutter, but I would argue that such liberties are necessary in engaging readers with the fully-developed character that emerged after years of extensive research. To see episodes of surgery "through" his eyes, to imagine his thoughts of compassion, and to revisit his reactions at anesthesia's first successes--these are what make this book an historical page-turner. The book is plenty packed with facts, figures, oddities, trivia, and photos to keep the purists happy. I happily keep this book next to other medical history favorites, such as The Great Influenza and The Ghost Map. Highly recommend to the spirited reader of history.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By
G. Poirier
on September 24, 2014
Format: Hardcover
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Focussing on the professional life of Dr. Thomas D. Mutter, a gifted surgeon and professor of surgery, the author discusses the teaching and evolution of medicine with a particular emphasis on surgery, mostly in mid-nineteenth century Philadelphia. Included are reports of rivalry and in-fighting among the physicians vying for higher prestige and more exalted reputations.
I thoroughly enjoyed this fascinating book. The author’s prose is at once friendly, lively, warm, accessible and quite engaging. The author’s accounts of surgery performed on patients without any anesthetic – yes, with the patient wide awake - are particularly gripping. In particular, the description of Dr. Mutter’s reconstructive plastic surgery on a burn victim is absolutely spellbinding.
As for the book’s title, it refers to a vast collection of medical artifacts, both tools and biological/anatomical samples, amassed by Dr. Mutter during his career. However, this collection and its destiny are only mentioned relatively briefly near the end of the book. Consequently, the choice of the book’s title is a bit of a mystery to me; but the sub-title is quite appropriate.
Although anyone can enjoy this captivating book, I believe that it would be of particular interest to those with a penchant for medical history.
I thoroughly enjoyed this fascinating book. The author’s prose is at once friendly, lively, warm, accessible and quite engaging. The author’s accounts of surgery performed on patients without any anesthetic – yes, with the patient wide awake - are particularly gripping. In particular, the description of Dr. Mutter’s reconstructive plastic surgery on a burn victim is absolutely spellbinding.
As for the book’s title, it refers to a vast collection of medical artifacts, both tools and biological/anatomical samples, amassed by Dr. Mutter during his career. However, this collection and its destiny are only mentioned relatively briefly near the end of the book. Consequently, the choice of the book’s title is a bit of a mystery to me; but the sub-title is quite appropriate.
Although anyone can enjoy this captivating book, I believe that it would be of particular interest to those with a penchant for medical history.
Thank you for your feedback.
If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
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