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Prof_Pretorius
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11 Oct 2012, 10:40 am

Just ran across this in the Telegraph.
Since we LOVE to label certain writers as ASpies, I thought it was interesting.
I haven't seen the book, but I might have to buy it.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/book ... eview.html


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Prof_Pretorius
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19 Oct 2012, 12:44 pm

So I bought the book, and here are some of his 'findings'.

Shakespeare may have had syphilis and been cured of it. There are a lot of references in his various plays and sonnets to syphilis and also about two men who shared the same mistress only to both get infected. He may have been cured by hot baths, which believe it not, destroy the infection. But he was also exposed to mercury as part of the cure, and that explains why he physically couldn't finish writing his last two plays by himself. It may also explain his shaky handwriting. A lot of the evidence for this is deductive, since there is very little in the way of hard evidence regarding the bard.


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Kraichgauer
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20 Oct 2012, 5:14 am

I had first taken the title of your thread to mean diagnosing writers for Asperger's.
Regardless, I'll rattle off the names of H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, George Orwell, and James Elroy as probably having Asperger's.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer



Prof_Pretorius
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20 Oct 2012, 5:59 am

To my utter horror, Lovecraft is not included. But Orwell is.

I've thus far read about Shakespeare, Milton, and am presently reading the diagnosis of Swift.


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Prof_Pretorius
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23 Oct 2012, 2:32 pm

It's truly an eldritch horror to read about the personal lives of famous writers.
Milton was a horrible man. He was cruel to his wives and daughters, he was overly demanding to any young man who tried to be his student. Reading about him is painful.


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AliceInAspieland
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24 Oct 2012, 6:05 am

I think it's nice to read about famous people who have Aspergers or have struggled with mental illness and have gone on to do wonderful things. Create exquisite works of art or made scientific leaps, it makes those of us who feel useless or without purpose, feel as though the things we dream of are possible.

Does anyone else feel the same?

Is there any mention of Edgar Allan Poe or Mary Shelley?


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Kraichgauer
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24 Oct 2012, 10:49 am

AliceInAspieland wrote:
I think it's nice to read about famous people who have Aspergers or have struggled with mental illness and have gone on to do wonderful things. Create exquisite works of art or made scientific leaps, it makes those of us who feel useless or without purpose, feel as though the things we dream of are possible.

Does anyone else feel the same?

Is there any mention of Edgar Allan Poe or Mary Shelley?


I've always felt inspiration from our fellow Aspies who have made their mark in the arts or the sciences.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer