Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical

I’ve always liked Anthony Bourdain. He was gritty. He was real. And he did an excellent job writing “Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical.”Bourdain excoriated Soper—which he rightly did—for hounding Mary. He also revealed the racism inherent in Soper’s conclusions about Mary. Soper’s conclusions were similar to many others in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which were based on poverty vs affluence, females vs males, uneducated vs educated, and native-born citizens vs foreigners. Bourdain analyzed what happened using his wit and matter-of-factness. For example, regarding Soper, he stated that,“…One imagines the sanitary engineer turned private dick [i.e., Soper], lurking under the Third Avenue el, spying on Mary from the shadows as she entered the rooming house…” (pg. 36).At the same time, Bourdain was completely honest about Mallon’s refusal to acknowledge what she did. The author did a fantastic job of looking at all of the various individuals within the Mary Mallon saga.

I had been curious about Typhoid Mary for years. This book was an excellent introduction to her life and times.I don’t know why, but I had, for as long as I had been thinking about it, sort of had a half-impression that Mary had been a seamstress and had lived somewhere in the Midwest. Turns out all of that was wrong. Actually, it turns out she was a cook, and spent her working years in and around New York City. This explains a lot.Anthony Bourdain, himself a chef, focuses on Mary’s life as a cook, and her arrival in America as a refugee from the famine in Ireland at the end of the nineteenth century. There are actually few facts known about this woman before she was arrested as a typhoid carrier, and even fewer in her own words. Much of what is thought to be known about her was not necessarily completely reliable accounts by the man who tracked her down and had her arrested. Possibly her later life would have gone a little better if this man had been able to be more diplomatic in his first encounter with her so that she could have stayed to listen to whatever sense he had to say. Instead, she escaped out a window, climbed a fence, and hid in a neighboring outhouse for several hours before the police found her and took her away.He does cover her long confinement at a hospital on a place called North Brother Island – a place where the City of New York built a hospital to keep many of the most contagious people of the time (tuberculosis patients, etc.) away from the rest of the city. Before this, I had only heard brief references to this part of her life, so that was good to know.

A straightforward partial biography of Mary Mallon, the infamous "Typhoid Mary." After reading this, you almost feel sorry for her. Mary was treated very badly by the New York Health Department, as if she were the only disease carrier who existed at the time. Others carried Typhoid, cholera, and tuberculosis, but they weren't treated like Mary. Unfortunately, she carried the bacteria that caused a deadly disease and was made an example of, "in the interest of public health." A good read.

Bourdain is a master storyteller and if you found this book rifling through Amazon, that's likely why you're here.You will not be disappointed.Bourdain manages to take a look at Mary as a woman who lost everything through both chance and her own making. The book provides a wealth of context that doesn't allow Mary to be a blameless victim or a heartless monster. She's simply a person, who thanks to a disease she couldn't treat, lost her trade. Her life. Her ability to function in the world.Did she have typhoid? Yes. She caused deaths. Intentionally, or knowingly, or not makes little difference.Could she simply have washed her hands better and avoided detection? Also yes. But she was also a product of her time. Others did the same- or worse.Mary Mallon was a walking disease vector. She was also a woman that moved to America to escape poverty and managed to make her way, only to have it snatched away from her.The book does not excuse the harm she caused, nor the harm inflicted upon her by her captors. Necessary as her captivity may have been, she was treated horribly many times along the way.If any of us were told that we were not allowed to do the one thing we could to improve our lives, wouldn't we be angry? Would we try to run?Add to that the fact many people see their job as a part of their identity. What are you, when part of your sense of self is shorn away while you are still physically able to embody the identity you built?Mulling all that, I am left with an amount of sympathy for Mary I did not expect.Some of my buy in is admittedly based on my love of Bourdain's work. I have admired the man for many years. Much of this book is hypothesis, conjecture, and reconstruction.Even knowing all that, I cannot shake the feeling that as much of a public threat Mary was, she deserved the little kindness given to her and then some.Such is the power of storytelling.Read it. This slapshod summary does not give this visceral book justice.

Mary Mallon, aka Typhoid Mary, is one of those people that you hear about briefly when you take a good safety course. Very little is said beside "She carried a disease and gave it to many people. ". This book is written almost as a tribute from one cook to another, but fully outlines the professional, as well as aspects of a well hidden personal, existence. Beyond her relationship with a communicable disease, little is known of her, and this book sheds some light on her as a person.

It’s sad to say but for an Author to say he didn’t have time to visit a place, means that research was incomplete. I felt that I could have read a Wikipedia article about Typhoid Mary, but then I would not have gotten Anthony Bourdain take on kitchens (which lent very little to the overall story). Most of the book was relegated to the gentleman who investigated Mary. It was stated that Mary left little written record of herself. But I’m sure though research one could find when she entered the U.S. at minimum.It was interesting, a very quick read, but lacked depth. I’m being generous with 3 stars.

Accessible, funny at times, honest and fair in his assessment, this is a quick and easy overview of Mary Mallon’s life from the vantage point of chefdom. Neither glorifying nor denigrating Mary, Bourdain takes you on a tour of her life, emphasizing and empathizing with the toll typhoid took on her career in the kitchen and her identity as a chef and leaves you with what feels like a fair if still mysterious understanding of why and how the mythology of Typhoid Mary came to be.

I really enjoyed Anthony Bourdain's story of typhoid Mary. He presents a fascinating correlation between kitchen workers in the 1800's and today. Further he takes the history of cooks back to Roman times and the frustration of cooks being on the lowest end of the economic ladder while being the people who feed households. Doing an incredible amount of research, Bourdain combined the remnants he could find of Mary's story, which probably began in Ireland, the Irish potato famine, the background that provides plausible reasons for her recalcitrance with Doctors, medical history, the story of typhoid, modern sewage and more. Bourdain does not try to offer any answers. Instead, his curiosity leads us back to a different time, although not that long ago, the mindset and classicism of society, the Victorian age and the plight of the less than wealthy, particularly women. As a cook and a chef Bourdain provides an insight far different from the medical community or a standard biography. Bourdain ultimately paints a picture of Mary that is true to life, poignant, miserable, and sad. Mary's life was less than exemplary but Bourdain's description reveals a person named Mary, not the "typhoid Mary" she became. Bourdain concluded the story by finding Mary's grave and giving her a gift. Cook to cook.

Bordain dispelled the myth that Typhoid Mary infected thousands and killed hundreds in NYC around the turn of the 20th century. In fact, she may have infected less than 50 and of those only 3 died.Marry was a cook and a quite good one at that. She worked in fine homes for the newly wealthy families. She was also Irish, driven from her homeland by hunger in search of a better life. She was a hard worker and to be accused of infecting others was an affront to her pride. She was not sick!Bourdain explains what it means to be a cook and that some viewed others: customers, employers, the public with suspicion. So it was no small wonder that Mary resented all attempts to protect her and the public. She promised not to cook, but it was all she knew. She continued to cook and people continued to fall ill in her wake. Finally, the health department prevailed and hospitalized her for 23 years.Was this legal? In 1909, yes, now, I don't know. Typhoid is not a big problem in the U.S. in 2018.

Very good!  Full of history and personal detail!  The title of the book got my attention right off... that it would be about more than a name.  The name, Typhoid Mary, was always a scary one because it was related to terrible sickness, pain and death.  I've always wondered about her circumstances?  Well now I have a better picture of her, and her life and times.  I was taken back to her time.  ... I hope to always remember to be gracious to others -- no matter what their profession.  Thank you for helping me to SEE Mary!

I didn't care for the start. A lot of time was spent on how difficult it is to be a modern day cook: how tortured and unappreciated they all are. By the end, I got the point. There's not a wealth of information on Mary; it probably could have been surmised in a chapter or two. There are many flights of fancy and emotional flourishes, but by the end I'm convinced that the author sought to do Mary justice. It's a respectable work. I might not gift it, but I'll likely read it again.

Maybe I should give this book four stars, because while every single premise was developed extremely well, maybe a few were edited a little too much? I don't know. And maybe my respect for Anthony Bourdain not only as a Chef, but as a Writer makes it hard for me to give this book anything less than five stars. But I am confident in stating this: this take on Mary Mallon by Anthony Bourdain is as compelling as hell itself, and worth a read, even if in the end a decisive judgement of Mary Mallon remains tentatively open. Who among us is to judge? I enjoyed reading this from cover to cover. Period. It is interesting, fast, crisp, insightful, and relevant. Every single page. Great writing by a great writer.

While I had just quit reading Anthony Bourdain's Medium Raw — because it seemed to go no where except around his addictions, how he was treated by Food Network and his career choices — I was still interested in reading what he had to say about the woman found to carry typhoid even after surviving the illness. And in this, he proved more or less to be a talented and sympathetic writer. Yes, both of them were cooks and for poor, uneducated Mary, who probably never quite understood why her life became the way it did, this book has a gentle understanding quality to it. While we may never know her whole story — this book gives more depth to the woman who represented the turn-of-the-century poor, the immigrant classes, the uneducated who had to struggle daily to make a living. How harsh it must have been for her to be told she could have her freedom if she only disregarded her God-given talent of cooking because she would surely contaminate others. How sad to realize how quickly her life effectively ended.

A non-fiction historical account about the life of Mary Mallon, Mr. Bourdain's perspective is unique in that it views Ms. Mallon's life not only from her perspective, somewhat, but also from the perspective of a professional cook. While his adherence to this perspective is not strict, his analysis is well researched and feels very complete.The story is engaging for the most part. The author's personal observations are entertaining and lively, however, a few of these side trips digress and detract. That said, I did come away educated not only about the life and circumstances of "Typhoid" Mary Mallon, but also about the times in which she lived.A brisk read, I recommend reading this at times of the day, or night, distant from meals, especially if you're dining out at unfamiliar establishments. As I read this account, I had in my mind a three star rating. Upon completing it, and in retrospect, I had learned a great deal of fascinating information and genuinely felt that I had gained something from the experience. Increasing one's knowledge is a worthy exercise and Mr. Bourdain's offering indeed accomplishes this.Well worth the short time it will take you to read.

The topic interested me so I delved right in, expecting the bio of Typhoid Mary, from a babe in arms on to the grave. What I got was more than that. The author opened up her world. The food of the time, the society of the rich and the working class immigrants, the knowledge of medical/disease facts and much more were discussed. She was presented in a way that the reader knew her as well as could be, warts and all, and, despite what she did, one could not help but feel sorry for what happened to her.

This was a very fast & enjoyable read; quite a pleasant way of passing an afternoon. I liked Anthony Bourdain's writing style very much he has a great sense of humour. The author's introduction shouldn't be missed - I especially like his theory that all Mary's problems stemmed from the fact she was a cook as they are well-known for thinking they are better than others. There isn't a lot of factual material left to provide any new information but Bourdain does a good job making his case. If you are looking for something light to pass a few hours with, this is an entertaining choice.

The term "Typhoid Mary" is sort of a cliche--the person who spreads around the plague in the office or the person whose homecooked dinners invariably have you sick the next day. But there WAS a real Typhoid Mary, a woman of Irish descent who worked as a plain cook and wherever she worked, a trail of infection and deaths followed her. What I didn't know was that Mary Mallon was actually imprisoned to keep her from working and infecting the public. That was shocking and sad.Bourdain is his usual crochety self, advocating for kitchen workers everywhere, a profession of hard work, outright abuse and chronic underpayment. It's fun to read his writing and he comes through in the narrative, making a dry subject of epidemiology and sanitation as interesting as any of his other memoirs.I read it all in one go--it was that interesting!

This is a really good book about a woman who is well-known by a lot of people, including microbiologists, of which I am one. Anthony Bourdain tells a story of a woman who probably didn't know anything about the situation she was in and didn't have any other way to make a living. He writes with a lot of compassion towards her, and I understood more about her side of the story than I think I ever have. I really felt pity for her, and I don't think I have ever felt that when hearing about her in classes that I have taken. Thank you, Mr. Bourdain, for giving me another viewpoint. You made her come alive for me, as no one else has ever done.

I found this book quite interesting. Although I was familiar with the basics of the story of Typhoid Mary, I found this rendering of the historical facts very interesting. Written through the lens of a chef, it gives a little insight into the possible mind set of Mary, how she viewed her career and why she might have been so unwilling to remove herself from her chosen profession as a cook once she was presented with the information that she was a carrier of Typhoid. The details of her story as taken from historical records is fleshed out to give the reader a better picture of who the real woman behind the story might have been.

Anthony Bourdain tells this story from a perspective I had never considered in all the times I have read or seen something about Mary Mallon. She was a cook. I had never thought about how much of her identity would be built on that. I had never thought about how "cooks don't get sick" - especially in a time where sick days were unheard of.Mary Mallon didn't feel sick, didn't recall ever having typhoid, and lived when disease prevention was just begining.Bourdain tells her story from a cook's point of view. He is sympathetic but doesn't make excuses.Personally, I quite enjoy his writing style and found this to be a quick, intelligent read that made me reassess my opinion on Typhoid Mary.