Why read Rum Maniacs?

Book cover of Rum Maniacs

Book description

Edgar Allan Poe vividly recalls standing in a prison cell, fearing for his life, as he watched men mutilate and dismember the body of his mother. That memory, however graphic and horrifying, was not real. It was a hallucination, one of many suffered by the writer, caused by his addiction…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Rum Maniacs as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Frederick H. Smith

Author

I found this book interesting for its medical and psychological focus. While studies of the negative consequences of excessive drinking in the early United States have focused primarily on the societal impact of drunkenness, Osborn explores the medicalization and epidemiological debates surrounding the treatment for intemperance in the early American Republic.

Drawing primarily on the writings of early Philadelphia physicians, Osborn explores the challenges of defining and treating alcoholics and highlights the debilitating ailments that those receiving treatment faced, including hallucinations and delirium tremens. The writings of physicians, such as the renowned Philadelphia physician and temperance advocate Benjamin Rush, offer…

From Frederick's list on Caribbean rum and the making of the modern world.