nyt: Annals of Medicine, Yellow With Age

The room, at once grand and intimate, is richly paneled in dark wood. Iron chandeliers and glass-shade table lamps give off a warm light. The walls, from parquet floor to molded ceiling, are lined with important old books, the upper ones reachable only by ladders.

The tone, as you might also expect, is serious and scholarly, the air heavy with history, the hush broken only by the whisper of turning pages.

All of which will leave you unprepared for the hairball.