I get it. You want to know about the transorbital lobotomy referenced on page 168, [in the print edition, for Substack readers that’s in last week’s story] and you don't want to shell out $12 or whatever that title is fetching at the local used book repository.
Okay, okay. At least you bought this one—or received it from someone who did. (Please don't say you stole it. I want to retain some measure of respect for my readership. Abbie Hoffman be damned.) [This is obviously a reference to holders of hard copies of Self-Evident.]
I'm going to just copy and paste the relevant excerpt:
“Yes, thirteen was pretty young for a transorbital lobotomy,
even in the youth oriented 1960s. Then again, Blaise had
been pretty wild for a thirteen year old, even pathologically
so, and her parents had clamored for a medical miracle.
“The doctor had deftly inserted an ice pick into the skeletal
concavity above her eye, tapped twice with his little silver
hammer, twisted the tapered steel back and forth to loosen
connections with the frontal lobe — aha! just so! And
declared her cured.
“Listen: I’m not making this up. Disciples of a certain Dr.
Freeman pursued such therapeutic hijinks into the
alarmingly recent past. More than one seasoned professional
passed out or vomited while watching Freeman pierce an
orbit. Patients often had to be dragged to the operating
room. (!)
“(Blaise included, kicking and screaming.)”
Oh, and I had another character transorbitally lobotomized as a youth in “Like a lizards on a window pane.” Samantha, the drug kingpin. Good bad medical stories are hard to find.
Are you satisfied?
Good.1
Footnote 115? You're asking? Geez. Yes. It smelled awful. [This in reference to the partial mouse I found under my pillow in the story “Dernier cri,” published in this Substack series on October 3, 2021. You can look it up!]
Oh, and Blaise heard back from her undercover source. The doctors managed to save the foot. As to the criminal charges and the lawsuit regarding damages? We'll have to watch the papers. [This in reference to “Bark worse than bite,” posted on Substack two weeks ago for those of you with short memories.]
Now, can we please get back to unvarnished tooths?
1 Fifty Wheys to Love Your Liver, p. 138
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