An earnest account of what the author calls a “mercury epidemic” in dentistry.
In this debut memoir, educator and advocate Bauer chronicles her and her daughter’s recovery from a variety of maladies, tying them all to a single cause—mercury in her fillings.
In 1993, when the Oregon-based author began suffering from acute light sensitivity, weakness, poor vision, skin peeling, and insomnia, she found no relief from her doctors, who found nothing wrong with her. She found her own answer in an entry describing mercury poisoning in an encyclopedia of alternative medicine. After studying the topic more thoroughly and looking back on her life, she concluded that her many silver fillings, which contained mercury, had been slowly poisoning her since she was 5 years old. The harmful effects, she felt, had likely been transferred to her daughter, Miko, during pregnancy and breastfeeding. The author gradually and creatively reveals these details over the course of this memoir, using the framing device of her visit to a holistic dentistry center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1994. There, she had all of her fillings replaced and underwent an intense detoxification period which eventually led her back to full health, she says. This allowed her to then focus on young Miko, who suffered from developmental delays and her own array of health problems. With the help of a unique diet, homeopathy, and therapies such as Auditory Integration Training and behavioral optometry, Bauer says, Miko was able to flourish. Bauer is a highly engaging storyteller, which makes her memoir an enjoyable read. However, although she offers a convincing account of her recovery, she doesn’t address why so many other people with similar fillings haven’t suffered the same ailments that she did. Still, she presents her arguments powerfully: “How could putting the second most dangerous element on earth into our teeth be beneficial?” She also discusses the American Dental Association, which, she says, continues to support the use of fillings that contain mercury. Her book won’t convince every reader, but some may come away from this account more curious and cautious about its subject.
An earnest account of what the author calls a “mercury epidemic” in dentistry.Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-948018-51-7
Page Count: 158
Publisher: Other Mother
Review Posted Online: June 6, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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