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Loading... mental floss presents Forbidden Knowledge: A Wickedly Smart Guide to…by Editors of Mental Floss
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. The staff of Mental Floss magazine must have grown up loving The People's Almanacs as much as I did. I re-read those books over and over and when I left home my mom allowed me to take them with me. Mental Floss is for anyone who loves finding out weird bits of information about people and events from history, like the fact that the Ottoman Empire lost its footing when a lazy sultan, nicknamed "The Drunk", came to power and couldn't be bothered. It's a big book full of fun stuff. (  ) mstrust | Sep 8, 2009 |  This was an enjoyable book, and perfectly suited for reading before falling asleep since it is a collection of small (usually 1-2 page) snippets of information. As someone who likes reading before bed but has a hard time putting down a book with a good plot, resulting in much less sleep than intended, this is a great alternative. It's arranged around the 7 deadly sins, which helps give it some structure, however, some of the entries were a little dry and I mostly skimmed over the Sloth section. But overall, it's interesting and I certainly did learn a few new facts that I've been able to use in casual conversation and on one occasion it helped me answer a trivia question. If you're a fan of the magazine (which I am), then I think you'll enjoy this book. I've moved on to another of theirs, "In the Beginning", which is also nice bedtime reading. (  ) la_femme_jennifer | Jun 29, 2009 | This is an entertaining collection of irreverent (and "naughty," as the cover claims) bits of history, easily digestible in small chunks and perfect for sampling over the lunch hour. (  ) ryner | Sep 16, 2008 |  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 006078475X, Paperback)Think of anything bad, from art heists to Genghis Kahn, and it's likely to be included in this wickedly smart and humorous guide to the seedy underbelly of basically everything. The brainiac team at "mental_floss", creators of the hit magazine and last year's Condensed Knowledge, have scoured the darkest, dirtiest corners of history and the globe to gather this ultimate collection of the bad stuff you're not supposed to know and you certainly never learned in school. Organized by theme, with chapters for each of the seven deadly sins, the book includes feuds, plagiarists, hoaxes, lies, schemes, scandals, evil dictators, mob bosses, acts of revenge, angry queens, cannibals and much more, all organized into bite-sized—albeit foul-tasting—lists (i.e."The Fascist Style Guide: Five Dictator Grooming Tips", Four Biblical Girls Gone Wild" and Three Delicious Animals We Charbroiled Into Extinction."). It's the perfect way to add some spice to a dull conversation and proves that learning can be not only easy, but exquisitely sinful. (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:57:53 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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