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- 4 Things to Know Before You Read mental_floss Presents: Forbidden Knowledge.
- 1. It’s a collection of historical facts and trivia, to use a word that somewhat unfairly cheapens the content.
- 2. The overwhelming majority of it consists of short, narrative lists much like this review but with lengthier and more informative entries.
- 3. You will learn something.
- 4. It’s compiled by the editors of mental_floss, a magazine that believes information can be presented in a funny and entertaining fashion.
- 2. The overwhelming majority of it consists of short, narrative lists much like this review but with lengthier and more informative entries.
- 3 Reasons the Book is Called Forbidden Knowledge.
- 1. Each of the seven chapters centers on one of the Seven Deadly Sins: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth.
- 2. The first person thanked in the Acknowledgments is “the Devil for making a book about sins possible.” Following shortly thereafter are such luminaries as Caligula, Nero, Genghis Khan and Atilla and all the Huns.
- 3. The editors are focusing on the stuff you shouldn’t know, not what you feel you’re supposed to know.
- 2. The first person thanked in the Acknowledgments is “the Devil for making a book about sins possible.” Following shortly thereafter are such luminaries as Caligula, Nero, Genghis Khan and Atilla and all the Huns.
- 5 of the More Intriguing Topics.
- 1. “9 Famous Bastards Who Made Their Mark.”
- 2. “5 Greatest Syphilitics of All Time.”
- 3. “3 Delicious Animals We Charbroiled into Extinction — and 1 That Tasted Nasty but We Killed It Anyway.”
- 4. “War, What Is It Good For? Well, 3 Things, Actually.”
- 5. “5 Inventions Better Than the Remote.”
- 2. “5 Greatest Syphilitics of All Time.”
- 3 Historical Figures You’ve Probably Never Heard of Who Make an Appearance and Why.
- 1. Saragon the Great (ca. 2360-2279 BCE), heading the list of “9 Famous Bastards Who Made Their Mark.”
- 2. Commodus (1651-192 CE), ranked first in “4 World Leaders Who Accomplished Absolutely Nothing”
- 3. Ethelred the Unready, one of the “5 Laziest Kings of All Time.”
- 2. Commodus (1651-192 CE), ranked first in “4 World Leaders Who Accomplished Absolutely Nothing”
- 6 Historical Figures Who Make At Least Three Appearances in the Book
- 1. Leonardo DaVinci.
- 2. Napoleon.
- 3. Alexander the Great.
- 4. F. Scott Fitzgerald.
- 5. Joseph Stalin.
- 6. Genghis Khan.
- 2. Napoleon.
- 3 Irritating Aspects of the Book.
- 1. Stretching topics a bit, such as “6 Servings of Swine: The Worst Pork Barrel Politics Revealed” in the Gluttony chapter.
- 2. Reading numerous lists in a row can be wearing. Although the magazine also loves lists (such as the “The 20 Most Annoying People in History”), it also incorporates content in a more straightforward narrative style.
- 3. The effort to combat Irritation 2 with occasional sidebars, such as some individual’s “Horrible-Terrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day” or “Lies Your Mother Told You”, doesn’t work as well as in the magazine and tends to produce segments that do not necessarily fit the theme.
- 2. Reading numerous lists in a row can be wearing. Although the magazine also loves lists (such as the “The 20 Most Annoying People in History”), it also incorporates content in a more straightforward narrative style.
- 1 Glaring Mistake That Never Should Have Made It Into Print
- 1. Spelling the names of John and Tom Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival as Fogarty.
- 4 Handy Uses for this Book.
- 1. You can pick it up any time you’re looking for something to do, even if only for a couple minutes. (Cross-reference: Item 1, “4 Reasons This Book is Fun to Read” below).
- 2. Using a few minutes of spare time to gain actual historical knowledge.
- 3. An entertaining Christmas present for the hard-to-buy-for who might actually read.
- 4. It might come in handy if you’re ever on a game show requiring knowledge of interesting, arcane or slightly bawdy historical knowledge. Of course, unless you have a wonderful memory, you may want to ask first if you can take the book with you.
- 2. Using a few minutes of spare time to gain actual historical knowledge.
- 4 Reasons This Book is Fun to Read.
- 1. You can take and read it anywhere, even the bathroom, for which it might be perfectly suited (in terms of available reading time, not content).
- 2. You need not read it in sequential order. You can can skip around all you want and the odd-numbered pages always tell you which of the Seven Deadly Sins into which you have ventured.
- 3. Although every fact is true (at least insofar as this reviewer knows), the quirky, humorous and tongue-in-cheek tone proves that learning need not be painful.
- 4. How many other books can you read that actually call Ben Franklin a “man slut” — twice?
- 2. You need not read it in sequential order. You can can skip around all you want and the odd-numbered pages always tell you which of the Seven Deadly Sins into which you have ventured.
mental_floss magazine extends its quirky and entertaining approach to fascinating facts and information to book form and "forbidden knowledge."
