The Geography Of Madness: Penis Thieves, Voodoo Death, and the Search for the Meaning of the World's Strangest Syndromes

by Frank Bures

Why do some men become convinced—despite what doctors tell them—that their penises have, simply, disappeared. Why do people across the world become convinced that they are cursed to die on a particular date—and then do? Why do people in Malaysia suddenly “run amok”?

In The Geography of Madness, acclaimed magazine writer Frank Bures investigates these and other “culture-bound” syndromes, tracing each seemingly baffling phenomenon to its source. It’s a fascinating, and at times rollicking, adventure that takes the reader around the world and deep into the oddities of the human psyche. What Bures uncovers along the way is a poignant and stirring story of the persistence of belief, fear, and hope.

• ISBN10: 1612193722
• ISBN13: 9781612193724
• Publish Date: 26 April 2016
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 21 September 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Melville House Publishing
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 232
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781612193724

Reviews

[ibeforem]

Despite the promising title, this book landed solidly in the "ok" column for me.

I was really expecting descriptions/experiences of many different syndromes, but despite mentioning a number of cultural syndromes, both Eastern and Western, the book focuses primarily on one. The focus is koro, or suo yang, which is a syndrome where the patient thinks their genitals are disappearing, or even being stolen. A compelling topic, sure! But what ends up happening is that the author travels around various areas in southeast Asia, asking the same questions of various doctors and psychiatrists and getting the same answers, over and over again.

Behind all that there is some interesting content about cultural and/or psychosomatic illnesses in general, including some conditions that I wouldn't have thought of being in that category and the beginnings of people making reference to "culture" in history. But it seemed like as soon as he started getting into something interesting, we're back again with the author, asking yet another doctor if they have heard of/remember suo yang and if they ever see it now, and getting essentially the same answer as the last person he interviewed.

So not terrible, but it doesn't live up to the promise of the title.