The Strange Case of Dr. Couney: How a Mysterious European Showman Saved Thousands of American Babies by Raffel, Dawn

The Strange Case of Dr. Couney: How a Mysterious European Showman Saved Thousands of American Babies

"A mosaic mystery told in vignettes, cliffhangers, curious asides, and some surreal plot twists as Raffel investigates...
€32,12 EUR
€32,12 EUR
SKU: 9781524744960
Product Type: Books
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Author: Dawn Raffel
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Subtotal: €32,12
The Strange Case of Dr. Couney: How a Mysterious European Showman Saved Thousands of American Babies by Raffel, Dawn

The Strange Case of Dr. Couney: How a Mysterious European Showman Saved Thousands of American Babies

€32,12

The Strange Case of Dr. Couney: How a Mysterious European Showman Saved Thousands of American Babies

€32,12
Author: Dawn Raffel
Format: Paperback
Language: English
"A mosaic mystery told in vignettes, cliffhangers, curious asides, and some surreal plot twists as Raffel investigates the secrets of the man who changed infant care in America."--NPR, 2018's Great Reads

What kind of doctor puts his patients on display? This is the spellbinding tale of a mysterious Coney Island doctor who revolutionized neonatal care more than one hundred years ago and saved some seven thousand babies. Dr. Martin Couney's story is a kaleidoscopic ride through the intersection of ebullient entrepreneurship, enlightened pediatric care, and the wild culture of world's fairs at the beginning of the American Century.

As Dawn Raffel recounts, Dr. Couney used incubators and careful nursing to keep previously doomed infants alive, while displaying these babies alongside sword swallowers, bearded ladies, and burlesque shows at Coney Island, Atlantic City, and venues across the nation. How this turn-of-the-twentieth-century migr became the savior to families with premature infants--known then as "weaklings"--as he ignored the scorn of the medical establishment and fought the rising popularity of eugenics is one of the most astounding stories of modern medicine. Dr. Couney, for all his entrepreneurial gusto, is a surprisingly appealing character, someone who genuinely cared for the well-being of his tiny patients. But he had something to hide...

Drawing on historical documents, original reportage, and interviews with surviving patients, Dawn Raffel tells the marvelously eccentric story of Couney's mysterious carnival career, his larger-than-life personality, and his unprecedented success as the savior of the fragile wonders that are tiny, tiny babies.

A New York Times Book Review New & Noteworthy Title
A Real Simple Best Book of 2018

Christopher Award-winner

Author: Dawn Raffel
Publisher: Blue Rider Press
Published: 09/10/2019
Pages: 304
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.50lbs
Size: 8.20h x 5.40w x 0.60d
ISBN: 9781524744960

About the Author
Dawn Raffel is a journalist, memoirist, and short story writer whose work has been widely anthologized. A longtime magazine editor, she helped launch O, The Oprah Magazine. She has also taught creative writing in the MFA program at Columbia University; at Summer Literary Seminars in St. Petersburg, Russia; Montreal; and Vilnius, Lithuania; and at the Center for Fiction in New York. She now works as an independent editor and book reviewer.

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