The Kelloggs

May 22, 2017
Medical historian Markel (An Anatomy of Addiction) delves into the contentious relationship between two highly accomplished brothers, exploring their impact on American culture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Though they worked together for years, John Harvey Kellogg, founder of Michigan’s Battle Creek Sanitarium, and Will Keith Kellogg, a pioneer in the breakfast-cereal industry, spent much of their lives feuding, both in and out of court. Yet as Markel points out, “The lives and times of the Kellogg brothers afford a superb window through which we can view vast changes in social mores, belief systems, lifestyles, diets, health, science, medicine, public health, philanthropy, education, business, mass advertising, and food manufacturing as they evolved in the United States.” Markel portrays the era as filled with disease, poor nutrition, and random death courtesy of poorly understood medical science. The time was ripe for radical new ideas and swift change. While Markel plays up the brothers’ individual achievements, he likewise examines their failures, such as Kellogg’s belief in eugenics and Will’s perfectionist obsession with his company. “The psychic costs their flaws imposed upon each other were every bit as dear as their outsized talents, imagination, and lasting effect on the world,” Markel concludes. It’s a fascinating look at two people who helped shape a pivotal time.

Starred review from May 15, 2017
A dual biography of the highly successful Kellogg brothers, who "fought, litigated, and plotted against one another with a passion more akin to grand opera than the kinship of brothers."One brother invented Corn Flakes, and the other was the most famous doctor of his time. They hated each other. Readers who suspect their lives might provide entertainment will not be disappointed by this delightful biography by Markel (History of Medicine/Univ. of Michigan; An Anatomy of Addiction: Sigmund Freud, William Halsted, and the Miracle Drug Cocaine, 2011, etc.). In 1876, physician John Harvey Kellogg (1853-1943) took charge of a small Battle Creek sanitarium that followed Seventh-Day Adventist principles of vegetarianism and abstinence from tobacco and alcohol. A charismatic promoter and author, he vastly expanded the sanitarium and became a world-famous media doctor. His advice represented a vast improvement over 19th-century practices of infrequent bathing, excessive use of alcohol, and a diet heavy on meat, fat, and sugar. He was prescient in advocating exercise, clean water, stress reduction, and plenty of sleep but also relentless enemas, as little sex as possible, and absolutely no masturbation. No businessman, John hired his brother Will Keith Kellogg (1860-1951) to manage the enterprise, rewarding his efficiency with low pay and no respect. It was only in 1906 that 46-year-old Will escaped, launched the Kellogg Company, and made a fortune. John responded with more than a decade of lawsuits and a lifetime of sniping. Markel refreshingly resists the temptation--not resisted by films and novels--to deliver caricatures. Embracing scientific medicine, John was a skilled, respected surgeon who was charitable and uninterested in riches. Will was a brilliant entrepreneur, a considerate boss, and founder of a world-class humanitarian foundation. The author effectively shows the brothers' "remarkable success was mutually dependent if not outright synergistic." A superb warts-and-all account of two men whose lives help illuminate the rise of health promotion and the modern food industry.

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Starred review from June 1, 2017
Medical historian Markel (An Anatomy of Addiction, 2011) tells the turbulent tale of the Cain and Abel of America's Heartland (minus the fratricide): Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and his younger brother, Will Keith Kellogg. The bickering brothers endured a symbiotic and cutthroat fraternal relationship, and their food fights involved years of lawsuits. Both survived into their nineties without ever reconciling, yet they are forever linked to revolutionizing breakfast with ready-to-eat cereals, particularly Kellogg's Corn Flakes. Physician John was brilliant, narcissistic, and temperamental. He advocated biologic living, a holistic approach to wellness and longevity, and was obsessed with body cleanliness and bowel movements. He was a prolific writer, inventor of medical devices, and creator of many new food products who also performed over 22,000 operations and founded the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Michigan (a hospital-spa-hotel complex). Will, a lonely man with exceptional organizational skills and business acumen and a strong work ethic, toiled for his brother for decades before becoming a titan in the food industry. He was a mass-marketing genius and a philanthropist. Markel's amazing amalgamation of biography and history, covering the pursuit of health in late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century America, industrialism, and the invention of cold cereals, is adorned with fetching photographs and illustrations. Sibling rivalry has rarely been so dastardly and delectable.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

June 15, 2017

Markel (history of medicine, Univ. of Michigan) contends that John Kellogg (1852-1943) is often unjustly remembered as a flamboyant quack, racist, and eugenicist, while his younger brother Will (1860-1951) is immortalized for his innovative development, production, and marketing of cold breakfast cereals. Markel demonstrates that John deserves more recognition for his contributions to modern medicine, having radically promoted the benefits of antiseptic surgery, probiotics, fiber, portion control, hydration, ergonomics, exercise, and adequate sleep. An internationally celebrated physician, writer, and lecturer, John founded the renowned Battle Creek Sanitarium in 1876 in his crusade to improve physical and spiritual wellness with "biologic living." Will dutifully supervised almost every aspect of the "San's" operation--even collaborating in the revolutionary creation of flaked cereal products--until he could no longer tolerate John's domineering and belittling. In 1906, Will used his enterprising managerial skills and relentless perfectionism to create what became the Kellogg Company. Markel focuses on the brothers' development, characters, and demons, revealing how their mutual brilliance and drive, along with their competitiveness and resentfulness, bred remarkable achievements but destroyed their relationships. VERDICT General readers will value exploring the motivation and legacies of these accomplished yet flawed figures. [See Prepub Alert, 2/27/17.]--Margaret Kappanadze, Elmira Coll. Lib., NY

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2017

George E. Wantz Distinguished Professor of the History of Medicine and director of the Center for the History of Medicine at the University of Michigan, Markel has the wherewithal to profile Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, founder of the world-famous Battle Creek Sanitarium in 1876. He also pulls in the doctor's younger brother, Will, who founded the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company after the two brothers experimented with healthful blends of grain that John saw solely as a social good. The result: endless lawsuits. Who says medical history can't be fun?

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.