Christopher Turner's Adventures in the Orgasmatron: How the Sexual Revolution Came to America, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 2011 and named an Economist Book of the Year, is a well-researched popular history of Wilhelm Reich and his orgone theory, tracing the Food and Drug Administration's 1954 injunction against orgone accumulators, Reich's 1956 contempt conviction for defying it, and his death in federal prison in 1957. Its strength is that it is a carefully sourced narrative history that has been well received for its research. Its limit is that it is popular rather than peer-reviewed academic history, so a claim resting on Turner's specific interpretive framing of Reich's psychology, rather than the documented legal and biographical facts, should be checked against other Reich scholarship as well.
Facts
Assessment
Reliability Tier1
Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, a major literary nonfiction press, Christopher Turner's extensively researched and widely reviewed intellectual history, treated at the top tier as academic-standard documented history. NotesHistory of Wilhelm Reich and orgone theory, including the FDA injunction, Reich's 1956 contempt conviction and his 1957 death in federal prison. Named an Economist Book of the Year.
Citation
AuthorChristopher Turner
PublisherFarrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication Year2011
Source TypeBook (popular)
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names Americas directly: "Christopher Turner's Adventures in the Orgasmatron: How the Sexual Revolution Came to America, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 2011 and named an Economist Book of the Year, is a..."
Claims Backed By This Source (26 claims)
This source backs 26 claims across the atlas. As facts: 20 well-attested, 2 popular myth - corrected. As cited relationships: 2 holds. Plus 2 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Historical Figures, 9 claims: 7 well-attested, 1 holds, 1 general references.
- Sources, 8 claims: 7 well-attested, 1 holds.
- Subtle Energies, 5 claims: 2 well-attested, 2 popular myth - corrected, 1 general references.
- Articles, 4 claims: 4 well-attested.
Popular myth - corrected
2Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.