How long does it take to read Acres of Skin?
Allen M. Hornblum
Acres of Skin by Allen M. Hornblum takes about 5 hours 52 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 5 hours 52 minutes
A weekend read
First published 1998. 320 pages, about 88,000 words.
12 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 9 hours 47 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 5 hours 52 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 3 hours 40 minutes |
The page count is the median across 7 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
In this expose, Allen M. Hornblum tells the story of Philadelphia's Holmesburg Prison. From the early 1950s through the mid-1970s, Holmesburg's inmates were used, in exchange for a few dollars, as guinea pigs in a host of medical experiments. Based on in-depth interviews with dozens of prisoners as well as the doctors and prison officials who, respectively, performed and permitted these experimental tests, Hornblum paints a disturbing portrait of abuse, moral indifference, and greed. Central to this account are the millions of dollars many of America's leading drug and consumer goods companies made available for the eager doctors seeking fame and fortune through their medical experiments. Many of these doctors established their illustrious careers on the backs of the inmates who served as the ideal test subjects - isolated, cheap, and locked behind bars.
Subjects: Convict labor, Dermatology, Holmesburg Prison, Human experimentation in medicine, Medical care, Prisoners
