Stars: 4
Review by: Mandy Apgar
Not all of the
book is completely true, being a little famous for having exaggerations
here and there, but it is still the best overall account of the life of
Joseph Carey Merrick - the Elephant Man.
Born the first son of a working class family, he began to show physical
stiffness and swelling as young as five months. By the time he was 27
his spine was twisted, hips in constant pain from early injury, some of
his fingers had so much skin and growths they
were 5 inches in diameter, and that was just his fingers - nicknamed
"The Elephant Man" by the sideshow circuit by which he made a brief
living Merrick is mostly remembered of course for the intense folds and
masses of swollen skin about his face and torso,
the texture of which resembled an elephant. A chance meeting with a Mr.
Treves changed Merrick's life (somewhat for the worse, but overall the
better) and he at least was afforded the happiness of a secure room in
the London Hospital. Merrick was found dead
by an attendant, indirectly from his (most likely) trying to achieve his
constant wish of to "sleep like a normal human" and suffering fatal
injuries. There is a chapter towards the end, entire nonsense, which
discusses that Merrick had neurofibromatosis. Not.
At. All. True. Merrick has been proven to have had a very rare disorder
called Proteus Syndrome, which was not known at the time of publication.
In fact, to help spread proper awareness of "NF" the X-Files actress
Gillian Anderson, whose brother has the disease,
frequently speaks about the differences between the two and Merrick's
legacy to both. A kind man, and one misunderstood by many.
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