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jkwriting24's review
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.0
The facts weren’t entirely useful, but it was mildly entertaining.
josephcz's review
3.0
Will Cuppy is the face of sarcasm and inspired me to be funny. However, I’d be very frustrated if I was trying to learn substantial history. Imagine trying to talk about Catherine the Great to a group of people but all that you remember is how she would put a napkin between the folds of her chin before she eats.
juliasilge's review
4.0
This is a re-reading of this book for me, but I enjoyed it so much again, just as I remember. It is such a whimsical, funny, sharp look at various figures through history. It is an utter delight to read, and it's amazing that the accuracy is as dead-on as it supposedly is-- it seems like reality couldn't really be that surreal and funny. The introduction and conclusion of the version I have make me somewhat sad about Cuppy's life, but this work of his is bristling and sharp and wonderful.
gloame's review
3.0
I laughed out loud with the first page and laughed pretty consistently through the first section. But in the end I decided not to finish it. I was bored of the jokes at the expense of women (which I can get pretty much anywhere else at any time) and I felt like I was wasting my time. I wanted to learn some historical trivia and laugh at the same time but I was often not sure whether he was being facetious, serious, or just making shit up for a laugh. I didn't want to learn wrong history so I decided to move on.
librator's review
2.0
For me, this book occupies a strange in-between state - not funny enough to be a comedy and not serious enough to be a history. I suppose the best adjective to describe it would be "amusing."
kerrygibbons's review
3.0
I got very tired of this book about halfway through and then it became an immense bore to read. Quite unfortunate because I was fairly enjoying it up until that point.
greenldydragon's review
2.0
For some reason, I kept hearing Stephen Colbert's voice while I was reading this book. It's probably the comedic writing style coupled with the way footnotes are used to make commentary and not actual citations, but I'm giving this book 3/5 right now because I haven't had the chance to go back through and check the historical validity of some of his statements. Once I've checked those out (with leeway since this book was written in the 1930s-40s), then I might adjust my scoring. ˆ.ˆ
emmaaxtco's review
4.0
This book has a fair amount of delightful history, but nothing too committal or hyper-factual. That's not to say it isn't accurate, it's just someone's funny account of historical figures. Much research and time went into this book. I would only give it 3 stars honestly, but I appreciate its effort and its ability to make me giggle.