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Books Related to The World's Most Fantastic Freaks Mike Parker - ISBN: 0600586111
INTERESTING READ.... - Rated
I enjoyed reading this book. The stories were short, and meant that you could read as much or little as you wanted at any time. There was just enough information to satisfy my curiosity, but not too much to bore me. I found this to be an enjoyable read.
A mixed bag - Rated
The most disappointing aspect of this paperback is the awful reproduction of the photographs. It is not always easy to see what the murky, coarse-grained photos are portrayig, despite the captions. The poor quality of the newsprint, yellowing already, doesn't help matters either. Many of the most interesting anomalies described are not illustrated.
An index would have been helpful, but none is provided.
His choice of some 'freaks', such as victims of spontaneous human combustion, progeria children, gluttons and the 'man in the iron mask,' is questionable. A reconstruction of the 'Elephant Man's'face is used instead of any one of numerous photographs taken during Merrick's lifetime.
Some notable victims of genetic anomalies are not mentioned at all, such as microcephalics (as featured in the film "Freaks"), the Hottentot Venus,' Rondo Hatton (an acromegalic who was featured in many Hollywood films), and conjoined twins, like the Hensel (?) sisters who resemble a single child with two heads.
There is some interesting uncorroborated anecdotal information, e.g. the whites of Napoleon's eyes had a "shining, strangely luminous tint."
But the book is very inexpensive, and the low price is a saving grace. But only just!
