|
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.
|
|
Critical Praise for
mental floss presents Forbidden Knowledge
"The titans of trivia."
—
Newsweek
"A lot like that professor of yours who peppered his tests with raunchy jokes: it makes learning fun."
—
Newsweek
"A delightfully eccentric and eclectic new magazine."
—
Washington Post
"Part scholarly journal, part Spy magazine protégé."
—
Charlotte Observer
"For the discerning intellect, Mental Floss cleans out the cobwebs."
—
Chicago Tribune
|
The Mental Floss History of the World
History is . . . (a) more or less bunk. (b) a nightmare from which I am trying to awaken. (c) as thoroughly infected with lies as a street whore with syphilis. Match your answers: (1) Stephen Daedalus of James Joyce's Ulysses (2) Henry Ford (3) Arthur Schopenhauer It turns out that answer need not...
|
|
Mental Floss presents In the Beginning
Sure, you know all about the birds and bees. But did Dad ever tell you that it wasn't a stork that put that shiny can opener in your kitchen drawer? Or paperclips started out as proud, Nazi-fighting warriors? And did he tell you how cruise control was originally conceived by a blind genius? From...
|
|
Mental Floss: Genius Instruction Manual
Remember that time you bumped into Stephen Hawking at the clambake and his monologue on string theory went completely over your head? Man, was that awkward. Or remember the time you were at a party and someone asked, "Who knows how to perform open-heart surgery?" and you were the only one who...
|
|
|
Veni, Vidi, Vici (Second Edition)
By Eugene Ehrlich
As entertaining as it is addictive and informative, VENI, VIDI, VICI has more than 1,000 Latin words and phrases to help you intelligently insult, compliment, or comment on anything at all. This book contains more than 1,000 Latin words and phrases, with a direct...
|
|
View more new releases »
|
|