Keeley's Kures
Everyman manual for simple health fixes
by Bo Keeley

The actual subtitle is "alternative healings from the trails and trials of a world-champion hobo-adventurer." Which fairly describes both the content and the author. [Note: This reviewer actually edited and prepared Keeley's Kures for publication via the Createspace in-house, print-on-demand publishing firm, a subsidiary of Amazon.com.]

As a "wholistic libertarian" Web columnist and book and movie reviewer, I'm always on the lookout for creative spirits and intellects. Bo is off the charts in both of these categories—most of my friends and family regard me as unconventional, but compared to Doc Keeley I'm George Babbitt—to the eternal benefit of the less adventurous and independent members of the species... or, truly, all the rest.

The Message

All right so what's so special about "the Kures?" As one reviewer (up on the Amazon page) puts it: "I share the same reaction of many others who have read Keeley's Kures—why wasn't this information distilled into a useful format a long time ago? This is exactly the sort of practical health management information a person in their mid-40's needs to read—especially with the chill of mortality closing in from not being able to run so fast, walk so far, or see so well. Keeley's Kures is not just a fun read, it's an excellent reference."[1] Thus the message is: Here's how to achieve decent health, and relief or freedom from 30+ common afflictions, efficiently and inexpensively. In fact, mostly the Kures are free. At most they cost you a bad habit or two.

Yes, why indeed hasn't such information been widely available in convenient form before? Well, it has... just key "home remedies" or "holistic health practices" into your browser and surf. Other fine 'alternative' books and references exist, and have been out there for some time. Keeley's Kures makes an invaluable complement to all the rest... mainly for its brevity and gobs of street (wilderness-path) credit drawn from Bo's personal experience: As a veterinarian, champion professional athlete (ranked 2-4 on the pro racquetball circuit during the 1970s), globetrotting nature-lover and a man's 'man of letters,' he brings to you a wealth of worldly knowledge with zest.

A simple consideration of the areas Keeley chooses to cover shows an uncommon sensitivity to what ails so many regular people:

Then as Bo says, the Kures work: "[they are] used on myself, or informally on acquaintances. They are original, usually successful, and arise outside conventional medicine in veterinary clinics, American boxcars, and around the world in resolving assorted common ailments." And one learns in due course the traditional treatments are generally inadequate or wrongheaded. You will especially appreciate Keeley's suppressed outrage at Cartel Medical's standard disposition of cancer or hospital-induced sicknesses... and his common sense solutions. His proposed antidotes to unaffordable health insurance and second-mortgage health treatments are gems.

What Else?

Keeley's Kures is a pure joy to read. As I noted in my foreword, "Dr. Keeley has the literary snap of late Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson… w/o the drugs or reckless discharge of firearms." [If you've ever read some original Thompson (e.g. Hell's Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga or Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail) you know what I'm talking about as you read the Kures.] Snap, crackle, pop. For example, on the disastrous conventional practices for cancer:

"Many people, perhaps a majority of seniors, trot around healthily with undiagnosed cancer, and pass on just short of 100 years. The tragedy, repeated a million times over, is the old guy goes in for a checkup, a questionable, nonsymptomatic growth is unearthed (that probably would remain so for life), a biopsy done, CANCER screamed, and the slow chemo or radiation death ‘cure’ starts."

Most of us know people, even family members, who have been casualties of the CYA-rotted, Cartel-gorging system. But my point here has to do with the author's style: he prefers humor and understatement to make his points. Here's an concise, effective aside in the Asthma chapter:

"If you smoke, it’s an embarrassment. My nearest desert neighbor at a mile down the road is a two-fisted breather, with an asthma inhaler in one hand and pack of cigarettes in the other. Avoid this."

A book like Keeley's Kures comes along once in a lifetime, possibly because an individual like Steven 'Bo' Keeley comes along at the same frequency. Some commonality exists among the Kures, as another reviewer writes: "The Keeley plan, pure water to flush the system, warm sleep to confer immunity, vigorous walking to build strength, is a much better strategy to fend off ills and combat those that arrive." For each of the practices, Bo usually produces anecdotal verification... often from his own trials. You can't help but wonder what happened to the country's standard health systems—or the world's for that matter—which are and will be hostile to practical discoveries such as those in the book. We'll talk about such things another time. Bo's parting benediction:

"A cheerful frame of mind, reinforced by options of alternative medicine, may heal, and put the ghosts of fear of traditional doctors and hospitals on the run."

[1] The author and publisher deeply appreciate comments made on the Kure's Amazon page. For those of you who are Amazon.com 'members,' please take a sampling of the book from this PDF file download here, on which to base your reviews. Thanks much. Also, don't forget to click the Like button on top.

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2011 April 16
Copyright © Brian Wright | The Coffee Coaster™
Keeley's Kures | Bo Keeley | Alternative Medicine | Holistic Remedies

Rock Creek
Free Press