Vitalogy: An Encyclopedia of Health and Home

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Summary: carry him with you all the time in the case you get lost
Review: i believe that this book is not only a home book but is also a life book ...it teaches you how to live.

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Summary: Fascinating look into a different world.
Review: I have a very fragile 1900 edition of Vitalogy and it's unfortunate that it is so old because it's great fun to look at. I used to look at it as a kid and marvel at the strange admonitions it contains, such as warning against chewing gum since spitting your saliva is hazardous to your health. Of course, I don't know of many people that chew gum and spit saliva at the same time, but it's pretty fun stuff to read. There's also the warning against marrying someone with narrow nostrils, as it "indicates small lungs." How about "Red whiskered men should marry brunettes, but not blondes, the color of the whiskers being more determinate of the temperament than the hair"? There are all kinds of remedies offered including the prevention of baldness (use French or German green soap--whatever that is). Definitely a book for the coffee table.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating look into a different world.
Review: I have a very fragile 1900 edition of Vitalogy and it's unfortunate that it is so old because it's great fun to look at. I used to look at it as a kid and marvel at the strange admonitions it contains, such as warning against chewing gum since spitting your saliva is hazardous to your health. Of course, I don't know of many people that chew gum and spit saliva at the same time, but it's pretty fun stuff to read. There's also the warning against marrying someone with narrow nostrils, as it "indicates small lungs." How about "Red whiskered men should marry brunettes, but not blondes, the color of the whiskers being more determinate of the temperament than the hair"? There are all kinds of remedies offered including the prevention of baldness (use French or German green soap--whatever that is). Definitely a book for the coffee table.

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Summary: Wacky Insight Into Turn of the Century (ixx to xx) medicine
Review: This book, nowadays, might be very funny to doctors, in the same way an Archie comic book would be funny to a great writer, but its a written record that gives us a clear insight into the customs and minds of modern ixx century medicine.
Apart from that this book can also be alittle frightening, for its impressive to see what the great minds of the age considered diseases or remedies.
This edition is a very concise version of the original and deals only with a couple of chapters.
Even if you dont care about medicine, its a very fun book to read. You will be surprised to what was considered the source of vitalogy and long life in 1899.

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Summary: Nostalgia
Review: Vitalogy is a book originally released in 1899 and originally contained over 1,000 pages. Today's paperback edition is four selected chapters from the publisher (severely edited). It is an interesting look at home remedies at the turn of the century, and is linked to the 1994 Pearl Jam album of the same name.

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Summary: Nothing to do with Pearl Jam
Review: Written in the late 1800's (supposedly), Vitalogy is a tongue in cheek book by today's standards. Vitalogy was written by E.H Ruddock, who was a literary version of a traveling salesman. This leads one to believe that the ideals in this book are tall tales, with the author fully knowing that he was lying to the reader. The basic vibe for a person reading Vitalogy nowadays is that the book is "b.s.", but serves as an interesting look at how America wanted innocense so badly that they created societal propaganda such as Vitalogy in order to force citizens to live as society wanted them to. (Example: find the photo of a young man before and after self-stimulation. The "after" photo is doctored so badly that it is ridiculous to the point of laughter). Vitalogy is the book Ed Vedder from Pearl Jam borrowed excerpts from for liner notes on the Vitalogy album. This book, on the contrary, has NOTHING TO DO WITH PEARL JAM. Nontheless, the book is interesting and I give it 4 stars, just because it has a gritty, nostalgic feel to it. Pearl Jam fan or not, the nostalgia and feel of this book is very interesting and should be read by those who could find interest in such societal"propaganda" that Vitalogy brings forth. I was disappointed at first, due to the fact I honestly thought it was a Pearl Jam book. I later picked up Vitalogy from time to time and started to enjoy it for reasons already described.