John Ross is a doctor — and a literary detective. Here, using all the evidence he can find, he investigates the ailments of great writers — Shakespeare’s tremor, which might have been related to syphilis, but was probably not Parkinson’s disease; Milton’s glaucoma; Swift’s dementia, Melville’s bipolar disorder. This is gripping and illuminating. Ross enters many different worlds and brings them to life. The pain these people suffered! Joyce had leeches applied to his eyes. Orwell had “collapse” treatment for TB. A couple of years later, antibiotics might have saved him.
