“This is a book which should be a must purchase for every acquisition librarian for public libraries and certainly, for academic and medical libraries.”

“During several years experience, including all of the types of libraries mentioned above, I never saw a book that was as well organized, informative, and entertaining to read as An Excess of Phobias and Manias. I highly recommend this important contribution to anyone who wants to both learn and to enjoy a book anytime, anywhere.”

—John Lee, Librarian, San Francisco, California

An Excess of Phobias and Manias, Page 84

felinophobia: An abnormal fear or dread of cats; often with some justification.

The scenes shown here represent an actual attack by a cat on a postal-delivery woman in Germany; whenever she tried to deliver the mail. According to a German TV presentation, the cat’s owner was sitting in his home with his phobic cat on his lap and as a visiting postal-woman tried to pet the cat, it responded by violently striking out at her. Did the cat resent an invaison of its territory or did it simply have an abnormal hatred for uniforms?

Whatever the reason for the cat’s behavior, its owner had to pick up his mail at a neighborhood bar because he refused to restrict the freedom of his cat to come and go whenever it desired.

An Excess of Phobias and Manias, Page 88

alliumphobia: fear of garlic

borborygamiphobia: fear of gas (intestinal)

gallophobia: An excessive fear of France or anything having to do with France including its language and culture.

Foreign relations are like human relations.
They are endless.
The solution of one problem usually leads to another.
-James Reston

gatophobia: An irrational dread of cats.

One of the most striking differences between a cat and a lie
is that a cat has only nine lives.
-Mark Twain

gametophobia, gamophobia: An exaggerated fear of being married.

gamomania, gamonomania: 1. A morbid desire to get married which may include polygamy. 2. A form of insanity characterized by extravagant or outrageous proposals of marriage.

To marry once is a duty, twice a folly, thrice is madness.
-Dutch Proverb

God help the man who won’t marry until he finds a perfect woman,
and God help him even more if he finds her.
-Benjamin Tillett