Knotted Tongues: Stuttering in History and the Quest for a Cure
by Benson BobrickStuttering, sometimes reffered to as a stammer, has afflicted a portion of humans for at least thousands of years. For the documented part of that history, the cause(s?) have been speculated upon and cures suggested. Stutterers can be found in western history as kings, doctors, writers, priests. Some of those mentioned here include Cotton Mather, Charles Darwin, Moses Mendelsohn, Demosthenes, and Moses of the Bible. Cures ranged, as did their effects. Some stutterers brought their tongues under control, some found ways around them, some were killed through surgeries to correct their flaw, and some were cured. The author ranks among the last group, and attributes his own cure to Robert Webster's therapy. This therapy operates off of the observation that stutterers mishear themselves- when audio feedback is given them about what they are saying, the stutter is reduced.
This account left me with an incomplete feeling. I wanted to know more about what stuttering is and what cures have been and used, and how successful they've been. The biographies were nice, but many seemed repetetive. I don't need to hear seven almost identical stories. The author's claims about the importance of speech in humans have not been backed by more recent studies. I would have liked a much greater overview on the cure that Bobrick found so effective. Notes are at the back, although they are not notated through the book. An index and bibliography are also provided. The cover has a delightful
poem.
Happy reading.
