Wednesday, November 30, 2011

THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE by T. Coraghessan Boyle

Finished We 11/30/11

THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE vividly demonstrates what it might have been like to have been a guest at John Harvey Kellogg's Battle Creek Sanitarium during the winter of 1907. Kellogg is the driven, odd-ball egomaniac who was arguably the most important player in the emerging spiritual and health industry at the dawn of the 20th century. The reader watches as Kellogg struggles to maintain and expand his economic empire of breakfast products, and secure his position as the Grand Poobah of health and fitness. Fresh air, enemas, vegetarianism, and exercise were seen as the keys to a positive lifestyle, while nearly all forms of sex were perceived as the deadly foe of mental and physical stability.

The story is told through the adventures of a handful of wonderfully crafted characters. Will and Eleanor Lightboddy are two visitors to Kellogg's Spa And Temple Of Health. Will suffers from alcoholism and stomach troubles, and his wife, Eleanor is probably suffering from nothing more than a lackluster marriage. Charles Ossining and Goodloe H. Bender demonstrate how ruthless and desperate speculators tried to cash in on the nascent health market.

The book is an enjoyable read, and you can pick up a lot of detail about life at the beginning of the century, and experience their rather quaint views of health and longevity. For example, Kellogg invented peanut butter and the electric blanket, and Sears Roebuck offered a patent medicine in their catalogue designed as a cure for alcoholism called,'Sear's White Star Liquor Cure'.

Dr. John Harvey Kellogg
Battle Creek Michigan
George Kellogg
Will Lightbody
Eleanor Lightbody
Charles Ossining
Goodloe H. Bender

Sear's White Star Liquor Cure (patent medicine)
peanut butter/electric blanket
Seventh-day Adventist

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