Water: The Shocking Truth That Can Save Your Life, by Paul and Patricia Bragg (Health Science, $7.95).
Synopsis: Fluoride, “the gangster of the chemical underworld,” is a poison discovered by Hitler and responsible for a wide range of deadly illnesses. Drink distilled water with vinegar in it.
Representative quote: “The fluoride in your water is actually toxic waste left over after the manufacture of aluminum and chemical fertilizers.”
Noteworthy flaw: Paul Bragg claims to have introduced pineapple juice and tomato juice to the American public. Honey, too.
Maybe One: A Personal and Environmental Argument for Single-Child Families, by Bill McKibben (Simon & Schuster, $23).
Synopsis: Before his vasectomy, McKibben does his homework to make certain that Sophie, the four-year-old human unit he has already inflicted upon an overburdened world, won’t suffer for lack of siblings.
Representative quote: “Only children may have some other real bonuses in their lives, too. Several studies suggest that singletons have more flexible sex-role orientation.”
Noteworthy flaw: McKibben never asks Sophie if she wants a brother or sister.
Circumcision Exposed: Rethinking a Medical and Cultural Tradition, by Billy Ray Boyd (The Crossing Press, $14.95).
Synopsis: Circumcision is not a benign rite but a grotesque atrocity that amputates the most sensitive part of the penis. Babies who seem to fall asleep after circumcision in reality slip “into a comatose state.”
Representative quote: “Complications have led to impotence, loss of the penis’s shaft skin, convulsions, massive brain and kidney damage, quadriplegia, and death.”
Noteworthy flaw: Given the book’s claim that up to 10 percent of circumcised males suffer such dire complications, they sure seem to keep quiet about it. Maybe it’s the mohel lobby.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): book covers.