What Disturbs Our Blood: A Son's Quest to Redeem the Past

Awards:   Nominated for British Columbia's National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction 2011 Winner of Hilary Weston Prize for Nonfiction 2010 Winner of Pearson Writers' Trust Non-Fiction Prize 2010
Author:   James FitzGerald
Publisher:   Random House Canada
ISBN:  

9780679313168


Pages:   502
Publication Date:   03 January 2012
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
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What Disturbs Our Blood: A Son's Quest to Redeem the Past


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Awards

  • Nominated for British Columbia's National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction 2011
  • Winner of Hilary Weston Prize for Nonfiction 2010
  • Winner of Pearson Writers' Trust Non-Fiction Prize 2010

Overview

Like his friends Banting and Best, Dr John FitzGerald was a Canadian hero. He founded Connaught Labs, saved untold lives with his vaccines and transformed the idea of public health in Canada and the world. What so darkened his reputation that his memory has been all but erased from public consciousness? What Disturbs Our Blood is a rich, unmined piece of Canadian history, an intense psychological drama, a mystery to be solved and a hard-won escape from a family curse.

Full Product Details

Author:   James FitzGerald
Publisher:   Random House Canada
Imprint:   Random House Canada
Dimensions:   Width: 15.30cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 22.80cm
Weight:   0.682kg
ISBN:  

9780679313168


ISBN 10:   0679313168
Pages:   502
Publication Date:   03 January 2012
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

Prologue   Part I 1. The Ghosts of Balmoral 2. Room at the Top 3. Daddy Ded 4. Dr. FitzGerald Must Learn to Cover Up His Feelings 5. In Dreams 6. Let Sleeping Dogs Lie 7. I’m My Own Grandpa 8. The Unpardonable Sin   Part II 9. Science Has No Fatherland 10. Crucible of Ambition 11. A Kind of Superman 12. Gospel Certainty of Relapse 13. I Am a Mass of Flesh, and You Are Another 14. Salvation Lies in the Most Concrete Records 15. The Travel Bug   Part III 16. The Miracle in a Stable 17. Born with the Dead 18. The Sugar Sickness 19. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse 20. Mens Sana In Corpore Sano 21. The High Priest of Quality Control 22. A Monument More Lasting Than Bronze   Part IV 23. Hell of a Good 24. The Living Lie 25. . . . and the Penalty Is Death 26. Damn Clever, These Spooks! 27. Occam’s Razor 28. The Archaeology of Silence   Acknowledgements Select Bibliography And Sources Permissions Photo Credits Index

Reviews

WINNER 2012 - Donald Grant Creighton Award from the Ontario Historical Society NOMINEE 2011 - Toronto Book Awards A brave and compelling journey into the world of mental illness, and a riveting look at the father-son divides in a family of talented overachievers. . . . FitzGerald manages to tie in important Canadian medical discoveries, two world wars, and the history of Ireland in an ambitious, yet riveting narrative. In heartfelt, lively, and meticulously researched prose, he links the personal to the political. --Writers' Trust of Canada Non-Fiction Prize jury citation The emotional chilliness of early twentieth-century Toronto is blended with a tragic story of brilliant scientists and physicians doomed to madness, in journalist James FitzGerald's memoir, What Disturbs Our Blood. . . . Never maudlin or melodramatic, FitzGerald's book is a masterpiece of its genre, the chronicle of family secrets unearthed and healing attained. --BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction jury citation A memoir of extraordinary power and candour. . . . This book is as riveting as a crime thriller. . . . Every writer has one great story to tell. This is James FitzGerald's story. --Patricia Pearson, The Globe and Mail What Disturbs Our Blood is beautifully orchestrated. . . . It's a roaring cumulative set-piece, a pageant of hectoring souls. . . . A fascinating, multi-layered history of 20th-century medicine and . . . a passionate inquiry into a family's tragedies. It's a banshee of a book. --National Post An ambitious book. . . . Fitzgerald accomplishes a masterful retelling of Canada's medical history, while rehabilitating his family's reputation and restoring his own sense of belonging and mental health. Not many books reach for and grasp so much. --Telegraph-Journal What Disturbs Our Blood certainly disturbed mine in many ways, and I thought it was magnificent. I see our country and our city with very different eyes, not to mention our national medical heroes . . . I found potent resonances on every page. --David Cronenberg, film director A powerfully written, emotionally authentic and intellectually satisfying account of addiction and mental illness in a prominent Canadian medical family. A gripping read, due to the writerly skill and unflinching honesty of the author, and his commitment to uncovering dark secrets hidden behind blue blood respectability and high professional achievement. --Gabor Mat , M.D., author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction A remarkable narrative of striving, depression, madness, suicide, and survival in a family connected with some of Canada's greatest twentieth-century medical achievements. It is compelling reading, difficult to put down. . . . It deserves a wide readership. When you finish the book you have learned a lot and you have been put through an emotional wringer. --Michael Bliss, Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto, Canadian Bulletin of Medical History


A brave and compelling journey into the world of mental illness, and a riveting look at the father-son divides in a family of talented overachievers. . . . FitzGerald manages to tie in important Canadian medical discoveries, two world wars, and the history of Ireland in an ambitious, yet riveting narrative. In heartfelt, lively, and meticulously researched prose, he links the personal to the political. <br> -- Writers' Trust of Canada Non-Fiction Prize jury citation <br> The emotional chilliness of early twentieth-century Toronto is blended with a tragic story of brilliant scientists and physicians doomed to madness, in journalist James FitzGerald's memoir, What Disturbs Our Blood. . . . Never maudlin or melodramatic, FitzGerald's book is a masterpiece of its genre, the chronicle of family secrets unearthed and healing attained. <br> -- BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction jury citation <br> A memoir of extraordinary power and candour. . . . This book is as riveting a


Author Information

JAMES FITZGERALD is a journalist and author whose first book, Old Boys: The Powerful Legacy of Upper Canada College, was a controversial inside look at the attitudes and values of Canada's ruling class. Revelations of the sexual abuse of boys at the school, first published in the book, led to the charging and conviction of two former teachers and the launching of a class action lawsuit against the college in 2002. What Disturbs Our Blood, sparked from a National Magazine Award-winning article, won the Writers' Trust Non-Fiction Prize and was shortlisted for multiple other literary awards.

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