[An] epic romp. . . . The scope of Menger-Anderson’s debut combined with her intellectual curiosity when it comes to archaic medical procedures is dizzying. Yet her prose is equally rich. . . . It’s daunting to conceptualize how the hell she pulls it all off.
There are some wonderful characters in these pages. . . . Menger-Anderson’s characters are well developed, and her attention to detail—down to the tools used by the generations of doctors—is thorough. She incorporates historical events into the story, everything from the Conspiracy of 1741 to the Attica Prison riots. These events, like the descriptions of a tavern in 1700, create a connection between the reader and New York City itself. The events may be dark spots in the city’s history—just as the quackery practiced by the doctors doesn’t represent science’s brightest moments—yet Metzger-Anderson presents each of them, as well as the parade of New Yorkers through time, in all of their ambition and pain.
A bold first collection chronicling a family of eccentric physicians. . . Menger-Anderson has made an impressive debut.
"Dr. Olaf Van Schuler’s Brain" by Kirsten Menger-Anderson is a sensational first novel that masterfully intertwines stories of medical fantasia with the intriguing history of New York City. Spanning 342 years and 13 generations of New York medical men (and eventually women once the mid 19th century hit), "Dr. Olaf Van Schuler’s Brain" is a fascinating take on the usual breed of historical fiction. . . Menger-Anderson is in possession of a great literary skill.
Mental Health, With Strings Attached
This little book isn't for everyone, but I sure loved it. [hurray!!! -kma] If, like me, you've thought from time to time that under our controlled demeanors, our learning and good manners, we're all about one millimeter away from being stark, staring mad, and that the doctors who set up to treat us are probably just as crazy as the rest of us, if not more so, you'll sigh and smile when you read this.
On scans, the climbers showed a reduction in both white and gray matter in various parts of the brain. Overall, the researchers found that the cognitive abilities that were most likely to be affected were the climbers’ executive function and memory.
Six of the nine climbers had lower than average scores on the Digit Symbol test, which measures executive functions. Three out of nine scored lower than average on memory tests, while four scored below average on a visual-motor function test. The study authors noted that the results "are most likely to be due to progressive, subtle brain insults caused by repeated high-altitude exposure."
The project's intentionally oblique CIA cryptonym is made up of the digraph MK, meaning that the project was sponsored by the agency's Technical Services Division, followed by the arbitrary dictionary word ULTRA. Other related cryptonyms include MK-NAOMI and MK-DELTA.
