William Taylor Marrs

William Taylor Marrs, M.D., is known from the record available here as the author of Confessions of a Neurasthenic, published in 1908. The book presents itself as a personal narrative, and its opening pages identify him as a physician writing from Peoria, Illinois.

In the book’s apology and early front matter, he explains that the story draws on real experience and that he wanted to tell it in a light, readable way. That mix of firsthand observation, self-mockery, and practical curiosity gives the work its appeal: it is not only about illness, but also about the medical ideas, habits, and anxieties of its time.

Very little biographical information about Marrs was confirmed in the sources I found beyond his authorship, medical title, and connection to Peoria. Even so, his surviving work suggests a writer who could turn personal difficulty into sharp, humane, and often funny prose.