The Book of Phobias and Manias: A History of Obsession

From the winner of the Edgar Award and the Samuel Johnson Prize, a cultural history of "everyday madness"

The Book of Phobias and Manias is a thrilling compendium of 99 obsessions that have shaped us all, the rare and the familiar, from ablutophobia (a horror of washing) to syllogomania (a compulsion to hoard) to zoophobia (a fear of animals).

Phobias and manias are deeply personal experiences, and among the most common anxiety disorders of our time, but they are also clues to our shared past. The award-winning author Kate Summerscale uses rich and riveting case studies to trace the origins of our obsessions, unearthing a history of human strangeness, from the middle ages to the present day, and a wealth of explanations for some of our most powerful aversions and desires.

Author: Kate Summerscale
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Penguin Books
Published: 09/27/2022
Pages: 256
Weight: 0.79lbs
Size: 8.60h x 5.30w x 0.90d
ISBN: 9780593489758