Volume 17, Number 11 · December 30, 1971
Pox Americana
By Edgar Z. Friedenberg
Microbes and Morals: The Strange Story of Venereal Disease
by Theodor Rosebury M.D.
Viking, 361 pp., $7.95
Dr. Rosebury's readable and enlightening account of the history and present extremely active status of venereal disease is interesting for reasons that far transcend his subject. The subject itself is, of course, of general interest. Syphilophobia is a classic form of obsessional anxiety, frequently encountered and described in the psychiatric literature. Presumably, on grounds of symmetry, syphilophilia must also exist among persons of more exotic taste. There is, moreover, a special satisfaction to be gained from reflecting on venereal disease during the Yuletide season, when fantasies of domestic bliss are apt to get out of hand, driving the suicide rate up sharply throughout Christendom.
Review, 2941 words
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