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Genie: A Scientific Tragedy (Paperback)

by Russ Rymer (Author) "Sometime in the late seventh century B.C., it occurred to Psamtik I, the first of the Saitic kings of Egypt, to wonder which might be..." (more)

4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins Canada / Non-Fiction; Reprint edition (Dec 9 1993)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0060924659
ISBN-13: 978-0060924652
Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 13.5 x 1.8 cm
Shipping Weight: 182 g

Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)

Amazon.ca Sales Rank: #251,980 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in this category:
#39 in Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Sociology > Abuse

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Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Permanently strapped to a chair by her deranged father, Genie (a pseudonym) spent her entire childhood in the closed room of a virtually silent house in suburban California. When her nearly blind mother dragged her into a Los Angeles welfare office in 1970, the emaciated teenager could barely speak. Bounced back and forth between foster parents, institutions and her biological mother (her father fatally shot himself in 1970), Genie improved her linguistic skills but ultimately proved unable to master the rudiments of language. Basing this searing, tragic account on an article he wrote for the New Yorker, Rymer tells how linguists and psychologists, eager to test their theories, competed for access to Genie, who now lives in a home for retarded adults, hidden away from researchers by her mother. Rymer suggests that scientists and caretakers treated Genie as a "wild child" instead of giving her supportive therapy that might have enabled her to overcome the confining horrors of her childhood.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

This is the true story of Genie, whose mentally unbalanced father tied her to a potty chair and left her alone in her room. Because of this abuse, Genie lacked language and social skills, and she thereby became a pawn in the great debate over language acquisition. Rymer here presents a fascinating look at a child's abuse and the failure of the scientific community to help her achieve some normalcy. Describing her history and the various tests and studies performed on her, he show how Genie ended up as just another case study. Unfortunately, scientists considered Genie a unique opportunity to study language skills and acquisition rather than a bewildered child who desperately needed help. Recommended for academic and larger public libraries.
- Jennifer Langlois, Missouri Western State Coll. Lib., St. Joseph
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
Sometime in the late seventh century B.C., it occurred to Psamtik I, the first of the Saitic kings of Egypt, to wonder which might be the original language of the world. Read the first page

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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

9 Reviews

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
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Average Customer Review

4.8 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Very tragic, Jun 10 2004

By	mary - See all my reviews

This is a must read for anyone interested in linguistics or child development; however, it is sufficiently interesting and readable for the general population. The tragedy the title refers to is that Genie was a child exploited by the scientific world as she was treated as a case study of language acquisition rather than an abused child desperately in need of supportive therapy. Genie never got the help she needed, and ended up with "soul sickness" in a home for mentally retarded adults. This is a very moving story that will make you think about morality in research and science.

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5.0 out of 5 stars The "Afterword" knocked my socks off, Mar 10 2003

By	Emily Zimmerman (San Francisco) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Gee, I wish I could write a book this good, and I wish all books written were this good. The "afterword" is not to be missed -- Mr. Rymer describes his process of writing the book, and how he, the scientists he interviewed, and most everyone who tried to "understand" Genie, all ended up understanding themselves in some humbling or transformative way. So did I.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, Jul 21 2002

By	Peter F. Stubbs (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I don't have a lot to say that the other reviews haven't addressed, so I'll keep it short.

This is a book about such lofty subjects as neurolinguistics and scientific ethics, yet it remains wonderfully readable to the average (but curious) person. It's a fascinating story (see the other reviews), but Rymer's real achievement here is rendering what could have been dry scientific data interspersed with horrific tales of abuse into a book that at no time exploits its subject for cheap sentimentality. We care about "Genie" because her shot at normal life was twice aborted, not because Rymer simply wants us to.

Recommended to any curious mind.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Modern Tragedy
I have worked as an American Sign Language interpreter, and I am also a qualified behavior specialist. Read more

Published on Nov 25 2001 by Rivkah Maccaby

5.0 out of 5 stars GENIE: A VERY PERSONAL RECOLLECTION
Mr. Rymer's excellent book brought back an old and very painful memory for me. I am all-too familiar with Genie's tragic story. Read more

Published on May 13 2000 by Kevin March

4.0 out of 5 stars Culture and Humanness
Through this sad story of a severely deprived girl, we are moved to appreciate the importance of culture, in which children grow up to be normal, functioning humans. Read more

Published on Mar 1 2000 by gtfo

5.0 out of 5 stars Psycholinguistic issues meet scientific ethics
Rymer offers a journalistic account of one of the most important events in psycholinguistics: the discovery in 1970 of a 13 year old child (the eponymous Genie) who had been kept... Read more