Riveting and philosophically fecund ... Deeply moving ... It is Shattuck’s authorial voice that elevates The Forbidden Experiment from an emotionally arresting case study to a masterly meditation on what makes us human ...
Even more enthralling is Shattuck’s suggestion that language...might be key to our human identity ... The Forbidden Experiment is a well-researched, emotionally wrenching account of a historical anomaly. It’s also a provocative but deeply humanistic challenge to both see Victor as fully human and to recognize how his humanity demands that we expand how we think about our own.
Insightful and well-written ... We should be wary of judging Itard too harshly by engaging in the sort of presentism that tinges the critiques I have outlined.
Shattuck was well-situated to bring the already-famous story into English ... Shattuck appropriately expresses frustration at Itard’s odd refusal to teach Victor sign language ... Shattuck condenses [Itard's reports] into useful discursive signposts but rarely dwells on longer than a paragraph.
