Mental Floss: Forbidden Knowledge

October 31, 2005
Concept trumps execution in this hit and (mostly) miss compendium of "the worst history has to offer." Editor Hunt and Mental Floss cofounders Pearson and Hattikudur (Condensed Knowledge) group their material into chapters based on the seven deadlies and purport to present "every bawdy story and dirty secret your history teacher wanted to tell you, but couldn't for fear of losing his or her job." More often than not, the "dirty secrets" are recounted in matter-of-fact prose, peppered with uninspired juvenile humor ("sometimes you have to get a head to get ahead" when introducing leaders who killed family members, or exclaiming "Eeeeuuuuw!" in response to sibling marriages among the ancient Egyptians), but the book makes a passable bathroom read. When compared to other recent works of historic satire, (John Stewart's America: A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction or The Onion's Our Dumb Century) this collection, with its dependency on camp humor, fails to satisfy. Readers seeking lighter fare may find the book appealing, but those in search of intelligent satire will do better to look elsewhere.

November 21, 2005
Concept trumps execution in this hit and (mostly) miss compendium of "the worst history has to offer." Editor Hunt and Mental Floss cofounders Pearson and Hattikudur (Condensed Knowledge) group their material into chapters based on the seven deadlies and purport to present "every bawdy story and dirty secret your history teacher wanted to tell you, but couldn't for fear of losing his or her job." More often than not, the "dirty secrets" are recounted in matter-of-fact prose, peppered with uninspired juvenile humor ("sometimes you have to get a head to get ahead" when introducing leaders who killed family members, or exclaiming "Eeeeuuuuw!" in response to sibling marriages among the ancient Egyptians), but the book makes a passable bathroom read. When compared to other recent works of historic satire, (John Stewart's America: A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction or The Onion's Our Dumb Century) this collection, with its dependency on camp humor, fails to satisfy. Readers seeking lighter fare may find the book appealing, but those in search of intelligent satire will do better to look elsewhere.

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.