MARC SHELL. Polio and Its Aftermath: The Paralysis of Culture. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. 2005. Pp. 324. $35.00.

Abstract

It is remarkable how much contemporary American culture has been shaped by the polio epidemic that gripped the United States from 1885 until 1955, whether through the artistic gifts of so-called “polios” with their unique perspectives on the various forms of denial and management that spurred our culture of wellness, or through the institutional and technical means adapted to handle large numbers of people in the face of what was understood to be a contagious disease. It is even more remarkable how quickly polio has been “forgotten” in the wake of the Salk vaccine. Marc Shell's book addresses both sides of the polio coin. Shell analyzes what he calls the vast field of “polio literature,” namely published and unpublished works of poetry and prose, fiction and nonfiction, children's and adult literature that addresses polio either overtly or implicitly. Most of this literature remains uncollected and uncataloged, a symptom of the drive to forget and one that makes the process of remembering polio all the more difficult. Shell examines, too, a plethora of visual images, most notably dozens of films. Interspersed with his discussion of these cultural artifacts and technical developments is his personal account of contracting polio in Canada at the age of six. Shell moves easily between his own painful recollections and a dazzling array of texts, including The Velveteen Rabbit (1922), the paintings of Andrew Wyeth, and the film version of The Wizard of Oz (1939), to name just a few. As might be expected, ample space is awarded to Franklin D. Roosevelt.