Modern Health
Otto, Cloyd, and Tether
1955
Submitter: I work in an academic library and, while weeding through the Rs, found this treasure trove of bad information. As a health textbook from 1955, what’s not awful about this book? Shock therapy is the primary treatment for most mental illnesses; those with low IQs are matched with corresponding scientific labels such as “moron,” “imbecile,” or “idiot;” consideration of minority groups and people in poverty is nonexistent; and grown women are all depicted wearing aprons. All of this is delivered to the reader in a relentlessly condescending tone that so many 1950s instructional texts specialized in. This particular library, before now, had not been weeded in a very long, time.
Holly: Clearly. I mean, even the laziest non-weeders should have caught this one! Even hoarders must be able to let go of it. Even…ok, you get the point. A basic report, sorted by publication date, would red flag this title easily. The irony of the title “Modern Health” is hilarious.
Mary: I totally want to read this.
Awful Library Books 