The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric & Discredited Diseases

A very imaginative and amusing read. I am a medic in Iraq and bought it on a hunch and the fact that i am a huge fan of the editor, jeff vandermeer. The book has been religiously passed around the aid station and quoted. Everyone enjoys it. Buy it, youll enjoy it too.

This guide to uncommon and unlikely diseases is, to be blunt, the perfect bathroom book. It invites brief visits to sample the latest absurd malady and then wonder to yourself, "Dear God! I think I may be SUFFERING from this horrid and loathesome disease MYSELF!" Indeed, some of the illnesses here can be CONTRACTED by merely READING about them-- so beware! But a close study of these bite-sized descriptions of alternate realities is stimulating, and you'll be amused at the cross-referenced sicknesses that dot the book-- the editors are nothing if not attentive to detail. And fans of H. P. Lovecraft and J. L. Borges and Wm. S Burroughs will be especially pleased... If you're a lover of elaborate hoaxes and like humor mixed with your fantasy/sf, you'll enjoy this immensely.

An imaginative collection of tales disguised as whole body scratching diseases. I'm sure the authors -and editors- enjoyed the creative act with the same guilty-sick pleasure of pocking a dead rat with a stick. Structured alphabetically, but warranteed to be sought for further random consultation as needed.

Normally, when a person reviews a book, they aren't actually reviewing "the book" but the ideas contained therein. And normally, such a semantic quibble would be absurd, but in the case of "The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric & Discredited Diseases" it holds some merit. Because not only does it contain a fascinating selection of the bizarre from a remarkably talented group of authors, but it compiles their writings in a visually stunning collection that beautifully mimics the style, and rather drolly the content, of a Victorian Era monograph. The basic premise of the Guide is that it is the long running publication of the eponymous Dr. Lambshead, who specializes in bizarre diseases. Moreover, the esteemed Dr. Lambshead is 102 years old, and his guide focuses on diseases that are, shall we say, beyond the pale of modern medicine. From Bone Leprosy to Wife Blindness there isn't an eccentric or discredited disease uncovered by such medical luminaries as Jeff Vandermeer, Paul Di Fillipo, China Mieville and K. J. Bishop (to name a few). The book begins with two introductions, one from Lambshead and one from the editors, both of which are hilarious. The book concludes with entries from past guides, as well as remembrances from Lambshead's associates, a history of the guide and biographies of each of the contributors (in doctor manifestation, of course). However, the obvious reason to read the Guide is the meat between these two pieces of bread: the diseases. Each author spends anywhere from two to four pages detailing the history, cause and treatment of their own particular disease. It would be impossible to consider each contribution here, and would spoil the fun of the book for other readers, but there are a few highlights worth mentioning just to offer the flavor of the Guide. First up is Michael Barry's "Ballistic Organ Syndrome" which should be self-explanatory, and which nicely sets the tone for the rest of the Guide. China Mieville's "Buscard's Murrain" is the first (and best) of several literary, or word based, diseases; it's characterized by his dry wit and excellent use of language and tone. Michael Cisco's "Clear Rice Syndrome" has an almost Lovecraft-ian feel, and is one of several contributions that could easily be fleshed out into something longer. John Coulthart's "Printer's Evil" is cleverly placed within historical context and is superbly printed (more on this later). Finally, there is "Tian Shan-Gobi Assimilation" by Jeff Vandermeer; not only is it another disease that could easily turn into something bigger, but it echoes numerous themes in his Ambergris work (without explicitly tying back to them) and will thus be a particular treat for fans of his work. These are just a few of the many great contributions to the Guide, and my failure to mention others shouldn't be treated as an indictment, but rather as an acknowledgement of the consistently high standard of writing displayed throughout the guide.

...and possibly the strangest books I've read in a long time. Imagine both a nostalgic tribute to 19th century medical texts (with amusingly horrific illustrations and drawings) as well as an update of these (to our eyes) obscure texts, adding various authors' (ahem, diseased) imaginations, with nods to the works of Borges (Nathan Ballingrud's eerily beautiful The Malady of Ghostly Cities), Edward Lear/James Joyce (David Langford's Logrolling Ephesus), H.P. Lovecraft/Clark Ashton Smith (Jeff Vandermeer's Tian Shan-Gobi Assimilation), etc. Some of the wittiest works? Stepan Chapman's Motile Snarcoma, Postal Carriers' Brain Flukes (which gave me an attack of the Serious Giggles), Steve Redwood's Reverse Pinocchio Syndrome, R.M Berry's Wife Blindness. Full of wit and wisdom, this is one of the finest satiric works I've read since Woody Allen's seriously goofy Without Feathers or the various Mirth of a Nation collections.