Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “An Anatomy of Addiction: Sigmund Freud, William Halsted, and the Miracle Drug, Cocaine” as Want to Read:
An Anatomy of Addiction: Sigmund Freud, William Halsted, and the Miracle Drug, Cocaine
by
Acclaimed medical historian Howard Markel traces the careers of two brilliant young doctors--Sigmund Freud, neurologist, and William Halsted, surgeon--showing how their powerful addictions to cocaine shaped their enormous contributions to psychology and medicine.
When Freud and Halsted began their experiments with cocaine in the 1880s, neither they, nor their colleagues, h ...more
When Freud and Halsted began their experiments with cocaine in the 1880s, neither they, nor their colleagues, h ...more
Get A Copy
Paperback, 314 pages
Published
July 3rd 2012
by Vintage
(first published 2011)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Reader Q&A
To ask other readers questions about
An Anatomy of Addiction,
please sign up.
Be the first to ask a question about An Anatomy of Addiction
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
Showing 1-30

Start your review of An Anatomy of Addiction: Sigmund Freud, William Halsted, and the Miracle Drug, Cocaine

Oct 29, 2011
K
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommended to K by:
M
Shelves:
readablenonfiction
I love good non-fiction reads -- the ones that engage you and also make you feel intelligent for reading them. This book, the story of two highly accomplished individuals' struggles with cocaine, falls squarely into that category.
Freud was a cocaine addict? Who knew? What does this do to any credibility his ideas have at this point? Okay, I'm exaggerating. According to this book, Freud ended his battle with cocaine prior to writing "The Interpretation of Dreams." Although apparently, I'm not the ...more
Freud was a cocaine addict? Who knew? What does this do to any credibility his ideas have at this point? Okay, I'm exaggerating. According to this book, Freud ended his battle with cocaine prior to writing "The Interpretation of Dreams." Although apparently, I'm not the ...more

I don't think I'll ever unlearn the terrible things done to Freud's (and his patient's) nose in this book.
...more

An Anatomy of an Addiction about Cocaine, Sigmund Freud and William Halsted by Howard Markel, a physician with extensive experience in treating addictions, is a well-written and well-researched book that moves fluidly from history to science and back again.
Freud, we know. Or think we know. This account provides insight into his life far beyond his troubles with cocaine. The picture painted here is of a very competitive and yet insecure, strong and yet needy individual, who spent many years abusi ...more
Freud, we know. Or think we know. This account provides insight into his life far beyond his troubles with cocaine. The picture painted here is of a very competitive and yet insecure, strong and yet needy individual, who spent many years abusi ...more

I was first introduced to Sigmund Freud as a teenager, and, as most of his theories seemed to revolve around sex and inhibition (joyfully celebrated in song by Melanie Safka), I wholeheartedly embraced his ideas. It was some years later that someone commented to me, "Well, you know he got half of Vienna hooked on cocaine, right?" Well, no, I didn't, and after reading this book I'm still not convinced that's an accurate assessment.
This book explores the history of cocaine as a medicinal aid throu ...more
This book explores the history of cocaine as a medicinal aid throu ...more

Dec 07, 2011
Jordan
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
counseling-recovery,
memiors
Have you ever thought that you could give up eating ice cream by smoking crack? What about giving up morphine and taking up the habit of snorting cocaine? What about developing a hierarchy of doctors who can do your job while you get high on coke and morphine? Well what seems obvious today was discovered though experimentation by the medical intelligentsia who encountered different miracle drugs in the past.
Less than 100 years ago Sigmund Freud obsessively experimented with cocaine. He even mi ...more
Less than 100 years ago Sigmund Freud obsessively experimented with cocaine. He even mi ...more

I was really excited by the premise, given how the 2 key figures became known as the fathers of psychoanalysis and general surgery respectively.
Unfortunately, the book isn't very well organised, and the writing style makes it monotonous to read despite the interesting subject matter. However, the sheer horrors of this "wonder drug," as it was heralded as at the time, come through very clearly. ...more
Unfortunately, the book isn't very well organised, and the writing style makes it monotonous to read despite the interesting subject matter. However, the sheer horrors of this "wonder drug," as it was heralded as at the time, come through very clearly. ...more

There were interesting bits of history throughout the book. However, the general story did not flow well. The story line was hard to follow. Plus the intellect of these two people were so complex, that it would seem difficult to write of their personality on the premise of a single trait. The main take- home message: they succeeded in spite of their addiction.

I hate Freud so much and usually refuse to read anything about him, but this book piqued my interest and even had me feeling vaguely sympathetic for him. It helped that only one chapter really covered his psychoanalytic techniques or Interpretation of Dreams.
Written in a compelling, easy-to-read style with alternating chapters on Freud and Halstead. It was a quick and interesting read with lots of cool pictures (and several unnecessary and gratuitous ones). The author shares many primary source ...more
Written in a compelling, easy-to-read style with alternating chapters on Freud and Halstead. It was a quick and interesting read with lots of cool pictures (and several unnecessary and gratuitous ones). The author shares many primary source ...more

Two medical pioneers -- including pioneers in the potential medical use of, and actual personal misuse of, cocaine. Howard Markel paints a cautionary tale of addiction that powerfully resonates a century and more later.
Many people know a bit about Sigmund Freud's history with cocaine, despite the best efforts of generations of Freudian acolytes and disciples to cover up just how much he used (or abused), how long he used it, and how much it affected his general work habits and his psychological ...more

The depths of the mind
"..as tempting as it is to singularly ascribe all of Sigmund's revolutionary ideas to his cocaine use, this tack ultimately constitutes as simplistic and unsatisfying explanation. The "Interpretation of Dreams" covers a skein of thoughts and ideas beyond those set in motion by the Irma episode. Freud's psychological constitution was marked by multiple compulsions, perfectionism, risk taking resentments, loneliness, alienation, emotional pain, traumatic family experiences, ...more
"..as tempting as it is to singularly ascribe all of Sigmund's revolutionary ideas to his cocaine use, this tack ultimately constitutes as simplistic and unsatisfying explanation. The "Interpretation of Dreams" covers a skein of thoughts and ideas beyond those set in motion by the Irma episode. Freud's psychological constitution was marked by multiple compulsions, perfectionism, risk taking resentments, loneliness, alienation, emotional pain, traumatic family experiences, ...more

I'm going to go ahead and give this four stars even though by the end I felt, as I often do when reading non fiction, that it got repetitive and draggy by the end.
Anatomy is a well researched and well written if somewhat imaginative biography of cocaine as a drug as well as its impact on some of the finest minds in medicine. Did you know cocaine was used as an anesthetic? Or that many stressed out moms were prescribed morphine? In short it;s a miracle that we all made it here today given what we ...more
Anatomy is a well researched and well written if somewhat imaginative biography of cocaine as a drug as well as its impact on some of the finest minds in medicine. Did you know cocaine was used as an anesthetic? Or that many stressed out moms were prescribed morphine? In short it;s a miracle that we all made it here today given what we ...more

I enjoyed this way, way more than I thought I would. Dr. Markel is a wonderfully immersive writer, taking us inside the heads of two fascinating physicians and their dizzying spirals into addiction. I love that there's a voice to the narrative; I get a real sense that I'm being told a story by someone who's enraptured by the material he's found and can't wait to share it with us. I like everything about it: the imagined dialogues, the fugues on the history of the coca plant, the scenes at the sa
...more

A highly readable account of the cocaine abuse of Halstead and Freud at a time when the devastating harm cocaine could do to an abuser were not fully known. Towards the end of the book, when Halstead and Freud were no longer abusing drugs, or, in Halstead's case, no longer regularly abusing cocaine, Markel seems to go off on tangents and I found myself wondering what these little asides had to do with these doctors' drug abuse. Overall, though, this was a great read that gave a high-level pictur
...more

I started this with great hesitation, but it was my Book Group choice for January. I found it to be an interesting change from my usual choices. It is a little slow at the start, but becomes absorbing when you realize you are reading about giants of medicine, Freud, Halsted, Osler, and the era when cocaine was considered to be the miracle drug to cure all. The addiction of Freud & Halsted as they used themselves as trial subjects, is a major part of the book.
Not a book for everyone, but written ...more
Not a book for everyone, but written ...more

Dec 27, 2011
Pamela J
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
history,
non-fiction-topical
Wow. Markel's well-crafted prose imparts knowledge, humor, and a surge of interest in the topic. His knowledge of medical history and its context is impressive. Interesting to think there was a time when cocaine use was not demonized, yet alcohol and opium were. Everyone knows that the original Coca-Cola derived its magic from the eponymous leaves. But before Coke, there was vin Mariani.
Interesting portraits of late 19th century personas who liberally used and became addicted to cocaine: Freud- ...more
Interesting portraits of late 19th century personas who liberally used and became addicted to cocaine: Freud- ...more

There's so much of this history I've never known about, or just incidentally. Howard Markel is an excellent historical writer, bringing together the beginning of commercial cocaine, and it's subsequent abuse by Freud and William Halsted (responsible for many modern surgical techniques). Fascinating stuff, combined with dozens of pictures (I love history books littered with pics, to put you THERE). It was a page turner from beginning to end. Highly recommended.
...more

Fascinating, esp for me as a Johns Hopkins staff member, to know more of the "story behind the story" about these famous personages, both doctors. Since cocaine is still a huge problem in the city of Baltimore, it was also interesting to read about its history. This was actually a quick read, and left me wanting to know more about the lives of both Freud and Halsted.
...more

I found this book very, very interesting. There was one grammatical error that I spotted but nonetheless, I felt as though I was learning a great deal more about Freud and early medicine than I expected. It is truly an interesting and informative book. It would be a good book for a nonfiction book club selection.

Fascinating read about the fathers of psychoanalysis and modern day surgery and their struggles with the brand new "wonder drug" cocaine. Eye opening in many ways....
...more

Found this via NY Times review: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/boo...
...more

This was a fascinating book--well written, well researched.

A little repetitive in the opening chapters, but the look at two influential minds struggling with addiction is worth it.

Very interesting read.

Seeing the devastation caused by the drug cocaine, which has led to the enslavement and death of so many, it is hard to think that its virtues as a miracle drug were once extolled by the medical profession. However, such is the case, as the renowned medical historian, Dr. Howard Markel, reveals in An Anatomy of Addiction: Sigmund Freud, William Halsted, and the Miracle Drug Cocaine, which tells of how both the innovative New York surgeon William Halsted and the father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund
...more

It was supposed to be the wonder drug at the start of the age of wonder drugs. Pain reliever. Anesthetic for delicate surgical operations, particularly in ophthalmology. Mood enhancer. Anti-depressant. Tonic for tired people (like medical interns) with too much to do and remember, but little time to do it in and still eat and sleep. Curative agent for morphine and opium addiction. Cocaine! Better than Bayer Aspirin! No need for patent medicine nostrums! The Coca in Coca Cola!
But oh! How addictiv ...more
But oh! How addictiv ...more
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Howard Markel, M.D., Ph.D., is the George E. Wantz Distinguished Professor of the History of Medicine, professor of pediatrics and communicable diseases, professor of psychiatry, and director of the Center for the History of Medicine at the University of Michigan. His books include the award- winning Quarantine! and When Germs Travel. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, The New Engla
...more
Related Articles
As this strange summer of staying put winds down, one thing remains truer than ever: Books offer us endless adventure and new horizons to...
57 likes · 30 comments
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“Such elusive puzzles recall the historian's basic dilemma: the absence of evidence does not always signify evidence of absence. In the end, we will likely never know.”
—
7 likes
“processing than desiccation before they are”
—
0 likes
More quotes…