Book Description

"No eyebrows. No eyelashes. When it rains the water will run straight down into my eyes," Catherine Lord wrote before her hair fell out during chemotherapy. Propelled into an involuntary performance piece occasioned by the diagnosis of breast cancer, Lord adopted the online persona of Her Baldness—an irascible, witty, polemical presence who speaks candidly about shame and fear to her listserv audience. While Lord suffers from unwanted isolation and loss of control as her treatment progresses, Her Baldness talks back to the society that stigmatizes bald women, not to mention middle-aged lesbians with a life-threatening disease.

Customer Reviews (3)

Chemotherapy Doesn't Have Anything On Love
Robert Summers says: "Catherine Lord went through chemotherapy, and she was radically transformed. We now read the book (the aftermath?), and we go through a different therapy -- in which we become transformed. Indeed, this auto-biography (auto-geo-graphy? auto-topo-logy?) is a book of transformations: it is always at work.
Without a doubt, I am deeply thankful to Lord for generously performing the details, insights, and performative self-portraits of her encounter with breast cancer, which became, through transference of love, my breast cancer, but in no way a non-Other-eradicating one.
If anyone has been touched by cancer (through their own body or a loved one), then this is a "must read" because it not only opens up and out to that which can kill, but it also openly demonstrates that which gives us sustenance and hence (a) life: friends, love, hope, desire.
I will forever be thankful for this book, this work, and the letters and words that this book has done on and in me.
All this written, just to say, "Thank you, Catherine Lord! I love to you"

Baldness unveiled
Catherine Lord's book exemplifies the move towards a biting, honest cultural criticism that takes its power from its visceral link to personal trauma. Amazingly enough, Lord manages to explore and perform her battle with breast cancer with humor and pathos without lapsing into self-indulgence. This is a deeply moving book but alsoan instructive one, subtly instructing the reader in essential emotional strategies of survival.

Bravo for her baldness!
Catherine Lord has written what may well bethe most complex, multi-layered account of the day to day drama, fear, anxiety and exhaustion that are all part of going through a major illness, in this case, breast cancer.Simultaneously full of rage and love, biting wit and medical detail, this book, by a sophisticated art critic and writer, is a must for any woman ( and some men) who desires more specifics of life after initial diagnosis. Although very real, it reads like a great novel.Her baldness doesnt pull any punches but will be a great companion. ... Read more

Book Description
Hair! Mankind's Historic Quest to End Baldness is a social history of one of humanity's most irksome problems: male pattern baldness.

Throughout the centuries, Man (not his real name) has tried everything to hide, treat and repair baldness, as well as a host of nostrums designed to coax hair growth from the scalp (or, at least, money from the wallets of unsuspecting baldies). Yet we stand on the brink of a truly historic epoch: Two drugs are now federally approved remedies for baldness and more are on the way while surgical techniques continue to improve, and even hairpieces are becoming acceptable again. Will baldness, the stigma it carries, and the profound psychological toll it takes on men soon be things of the past? Will bald men someday be electable? Are these even rhetorical questions?

Gersh Kuntzman takes you from the laboratories of Merck, maker of Propecia, to the operating rooms of the nation's best hair-transplant surgeons, to the rug men working on the cutting edge of artificial hair design. Hair! covers baldness like nothing before.

Download Description
Hari! Mankind's Historic Quest to End Baldness is a social history of one of humanity's most irksome problems: male pattern baldness. Throughout the centuries, man has tried everything to hide, treat, and repair baldness: Will it soon be a thing of the past? Kuntzman takes you from the laboratories of Merck to the nation's best hair-transplant experts to the stylists on the cutting edge of artificial hair design. Hair! will cover baldness like nothing before. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Covering a Big Problem
A bright and funny book, _Hair!Mankind's Historic Quest to End Baldness_ (AtRandom.com) by Gersh Kuntzman takes up the causes, stigma, and above all the treatments for baldness.It has a hilarious and scary section on the quack cures for the "loathsome disease," but concentrates on the real cures or crutches.There are now treatments for baldness, the "drugs" part of the amusingly named trilogy of cures: drugs, rugs, and plugs.Drugs available now for baldness are Rogaine and Propecia, and they both work in a limited way.There is a peculiar difficulty for researchers in field of baldness treatment.They can publish small, tentative, preliminary reports in the most obscure technical journals.All of a sudden they are inundated by requests from bald men who want to get the treatment, and if there is no treatment ready, they want to get into the test groups immediately, and if they can't get into the test groups, they accuse the investigators of being in a large, undefined conspiracy against bald men.The volumes of mail and complaints about treatments that are not yet in existence have meant that researchers had no time for research, having to spend it all on public relations.

Rugs are given an amusing coverage (sorry) in the book, but the strangest of superficial treatments are the "hair in a can" varieties.These consist of something like spray-on or spread-on gunk, sometimes chopped up sheep hair.Sheep hair is grated into microscopic pieces, dyed and given a negative static charge so that it sticks to whatever hair remains.A dry cosmetic called DermMatch gets rubbed into the scalp.The company slogan is, "Nothing looks better, stays on better, applies neater, is more healthful, or costs less to use."Kuntzman, a witty reporter, writes, "If that's the company _slogan_, I'd hate the see the employee handbook."

Plugs are no longer the thing.It used to be that hair transplants were cores of little circles of hair plugged into the balding areas.Look closely and a plugged scalp looks like that of a doll.But now there are micro-transplants, teensy cores of three hairs apiece carefully plugged in where they might do the most good.It costs thousands of dollars, and Kuntzman describes the bloody process with enthusiasm.One of the plastic surgeons interviewed who does such operations is himself bald.He says, "I'm a reasonably content guy, and it doesn't bother me enough to go through a surgical procedure.For me, hair loss is no big deal."Maybe not for him, but it is clear that is overall a big deal with big social and financial repercussions._Hair!_ tells about them with good humor and intelligence.If one of our obligations in life is to spot human foibles and to sympathize and laugh about them, Kuntzman has helped us along.

Humor and History
This is an informal, funny, but informative view of baldness.It convers the history, psychological and sociological aspects of this common condition.Where Kuntzman really shines is when he introduces the reader to the true characters in the hair business.These visits include scientists working on treatments for baldness, including gene therapist Ron Crystal; the radio show host who has a support group for the bald; the "proud to be bald conventioneers"; the hair tansplanters; and even the president of the hair club for men.These interviews are insightfull, informative, and hilarious.

A Wonderful Book
This cogent, piercing analysis of the causes and cures of baldness kept me riveted throughout. Kuntzman mixes wit, irony, and just a plain old appreciation for the wacky with some very sharp and thorough reporting. I have seen a picture of him and he has a full head of hair, which is what makes his sympathy for poor balding schlumps like myself all the more impressive. My only criticism of this book is that I wish it was longer.

I Love This Book!
As someone who began losing my hair at age 25, I found Gersh Kuntzman's "HAIR!" to be the perfect balm for my wounded pride. Kuntzman just tells the story of mankind's crazy, insane search to rid itself of this supposed scourge with wit and a great amount of research. Who knew that the ancient Egyptians used to spread hippo fat on their bald heads? By the way, it didn't work. This is a fun and funny book about a serious subject near and, unfortunately, dear to many men's hearts. ... Read more

Book Description
This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature. ... Read more

Product Description
These shocking facts are made clear—literally millions of people are developing common baldness and common grayness before they should—that is, prematurely; and that millions are afflicted needlessly with dandruff without realizing its significance. The reason is that the problems of common baldness, common grayness, and dandruff are not understood by the general public. In fact, they are not understood by barbers, beauticians, and most medical doctors as well! And as a result, widespread confusion and anxiety prevail, and superstition and quackery flourish.

Actually, as this book clearly explains, common baldness and common grayness can be checked when developing prematurely, and dandruff can be cured, but not with tonics, shampoos, scalp treatments, or other promising contrivances.

Here, for the first time, are the answers—answers to the questions about baldness and grayness which barbers, beauticians, and medical doctors are so often asked but were unable to answer adequately until now. Here are the answers written in plain, nontechnical language and guaranteeing nothing but the truth!

Read this revealing book and learn why one man may lose his hair at 32 and another have a full head of hair at 72. Find out why one woman may be gray in her 20’s and another have beautifully bright hair at 55. There are reasons, and the author explains for the first time what can and should be done about them.

Here are no medical miracles or claims, usually unsupported, but the plain, unvarnished truth!

Be the first—not the last—to know these startling new facts. They may very well change your life! Are thinning and graying hair problems of aging? Are they part of premature aging which has become a startling symptom of our times? Can we do anything to check them? Is dandruff merely a cosmetic problem? Or is it an indication of a body imbalance? Can dandruff truly be cured?

Revealing the answers to these and other problems which confront almost every man and woman, this amazing book enables you to meet effectively and with real knowledge the first indelible signs of “growing old.” ... Read more

Book Description
The ingenious comic novel named one of the "best books of 2004" by The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Baltimore Sun.

In The Story of My Baldness, Viennese philosophy student Marek van der Jagt tells the story of his quest for l'amour fou. Van der Jagt introduces a host of unforgettable characters and weaves a web of shameful secrets in this novel that uses Vienna the way Kafka used Prague—as the (strangely familiar) landscape where the narrator's obsessions are given free rein. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

"If life is a joke, I wanted to resign."
Marek van der Jagt is a pen name for iconoclastic Dutch novelist Arnon Grunberg, whose novel Blue Mondays won the Netherlands' 1994 Anton Wachter Prize for a Debut Novel. After publishing additional successful novels, Grunberg created a literary controversy when he invented "Marek van der Jagt," an author who was supposedly a Viennese philosopher, and with whom Grunberg engaged in a bitter "rivalry," heavily covered in the European press. When The Story of My Baldness, "van der Jagt's" first novel, unexpectedly won the 2000 prize for Best First Novel, a prize Grunberg had already won, the true identity of "van der Jagt" was discovered and the prize withdrawn.

Young, irreverent, and gifted with the ability to see real life as the joke it sometimes is, Marek van der Jagt/Arnon Grunberg writes earthy, beautifully observed prose, breathing life into every aspect of this hilarious and ribald coming-of-age story. The "author" is a fourteen-year-old philosophy student as the novel opens, deciding he will devote his life to "l'amour fou," or mad, passionate love. The son of a Viennese insurance salesman and a woman for whom unrestrained "l'amour fou" is life's primary occupation, Marek has little family guidance about the facts of life, but he eventually finds two tourists, Milena and Andrea, to teach him.

Marek's farcical reactions to "l'amour fou," his inappropriate comments, his clumsy approaches, and his undisguised fascination with his older brother's prowess make Marek's first attempt at seduction one of the least romantic (and most amusing) seductions ever recorded. For Marek, however, this is an ironically life-changing experience: Milena's pointed comments about his naked body cause him to seriously question whether he might really be a dwarf, one who is a little taller than usual. The remainder of the novel deals with Marek's attempts to cope with his feelings of inferiority as he becomes an adult.

Throughout his farcical search for l'amour fou, Marek makes grand pronouncements and "profound" comments about life and love, often relating his experiences to those of philosophers and creating satiric epigrams ("If you drink enough vodka, you understand everything."). When he is making love, he thinks of Camus, ponders the French Surrealists, fantasizes about being "the Rimbaud of Vienna," and dreams of being a successful poet with a volume entitled The Dwarf and Other Poems. His comic observations about the human foibles of his larger-than-life family and friends show them to be ludicrous, while his own naïve, Don Quixote-like search for "l'amour fou" is both touching and laugh-out-loud funny. Ironic, satiric, and ultimately thoughtful, the novel teaches that one "should not live as if a masterpiece is on its way." Mary Whipple
... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Skin & Allergy News, published by International Medical News Group on March 1, 2002. The length of the article is 627 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Preemptively transplant future areas of baldness. (Women Make Good Candidates).
Author: Winnie Anne Imperio
Publication: Skin & Allergy News (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 1, 2002
Publisher: International Medical News Group
Volume: 33Issue: 3Page: 12(1)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Skin & Allergy News, published by International Medical News Group on July 1, 2004. The length of the article is 2863 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Prostate cancer linked to early vertex baldness.(Clinical Rounds)(Brief Article)
Author: Mitchel L. Zoler
Publication: Skin & Allergy News (Magazine/Journal)
Date: July 1, 2004
Publisher: International Medical News Group
Volume: 35Issue: 7Page: 47(1)

Article Type: Brief Article

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Book Description
This digital document is an article from Epoca, published by Difusora de Informacion Periodica, S.A. (DINPESA) on November 23, 2001. The length of the article is 4375 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: No sólo los hombres.(tratamiento de la calvicie en la mujer)(TT: It's not just men.)(TA: treatment of baldness in women)(Artículo Breve)
Publication: Epoca (Magazine/Journal)
Date: November 23, 2001
Publisher: Difusora de Informacion Periodica, S.A. (DINPESA)
Page: 94

Article Type: Artículo Breve

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Family Practice News, published by International Medical News Group on June 15, 2004. The length of the article is 7970 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Prostate cancer linked to early vertex baldness; baldness onset by age 30.(Clinical Rounds)(Brief Article)
Author: Mitchel L. Zoler
Publication: Family Practice News (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 15, 2004
Publisher: International Medical News Group
Volume: 34Issue: 12Page: 44(1)

Article Type: Brief Article

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Book Description
Each year, men spend an enormous amount of time and money searching for a cure to male pattern baldness. Numerous psychological assessments indicate that the reasons behind their futile efforts are sound: attitudes toward bald men are overwhelmingly negative.From the first torturous attempts at hair implants early in this century to the faddish, well-hyped drug treatments of today, the extremes to which men have gone in an effort to regrow hair or cover their bald scalps are examined in this work. The various causes for baldness advanced by credible members of the medical establishment over the years are detailed, as well as instances of outright quackery prompted by numerous individuals and companies. Wigs, weaving, transplants, flaps and scalp reduction are among the techniques explained. ... Read more

Product Description
Alix Lamberts conceptual work uses the mediums of film, photography, video and performance art to examine how and why we develop social and sexual rules and codes. In her work Male Pattern Baldness she shaved the top of her head and assumed the role of a middle-aged basketball coach. The resulting video has been screened in exhibits at both the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.This is a catalogue of the installation. Text is in English and in French. ... Read more