Deeper than it looks
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They say, 'Don't judge a book by its cover.' Lemmings Don't Leap is a case in point. The cartoon of a parachuting lemming on the front doesn't exactly prepare the reader for the tone of much of this book. Yes, Edwin Moore uses The Simpsons, Coronation Street, Friends, etc. as his cultural starting points, but by the time the reader has reached sections headed, for instance, Robert Burns wanted to be a slave overseer or There is no real evidence for Boudicca's existence, things have become rather more serious. So, a book that draws you in and explodes a variety of myths, but at the same time isn't afraid to challenge some of your own personal preconceptions.
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More facts fewer opinions please Mr Moore
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Hated it! The jacket promises debunking of popular myths but what you get is Edwin Moore preaching at the reader on just about every page with his strange views on everything from animal rights through to US politics and random topics in between. The very irritating first 50 pages (or at least it seemed that many) could be reprinted as a recruitment pamphlet for the Society of Vegetarians, albeit not very persuasive to any but the most committed. Yes Moore seems erudite, at one point he hints that he knows the difference between deism and theism, but he regularly blows the illusion whenever he needs a literary reference. His first (and often second or third) port of call is an episode of The Simpsons. Too many of the 'myths' are Aunt Sallies set up by Moore himself only to be knocked down. For example everyone knows the actual metaphor for extreme conservatism is 'to the right of Attila the Hun'. But Moore misquotes this as 'to the right of Genghis Khan and then follows with more than a page telling us that Genghis Khan wasn't very right wing at all. Even worse examples are the 'Not in so many words' boxes scattered through the text where Moore claims to expose misquotes rather than factual myths. But again, Moore sets them up to knock them down and the majority of these are particularly banal. Give this book a wide berth.
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180 myths, misconceptions and urban legends explored
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This is a fascinating read which explores and explodes myths, quotes and misconceptions, some of which have long been perceived as fact. Moore looks at history, such as Mussolini failing to make the trains run on time, the paranormal - apparently no-one has ever been seen disappearing up an Indian rope; music and screen, literary characters, culture and the natural world. My favourites include the ugly rumours section where Moore points out that flatulence is not polite in Arabian society and his debunking of the claim that there are escaped killer dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico trained by the US military dolphins to shot at divers. Some urban legends he dissects you wish were true such as Coca-Cola and cocaine or the Romans and their vomitoriums!
Moore writes in an entertaining and amusing style but it's not all frivolous as he considers more serious issues and myths of topics such as civil rights in America, slavery, religion and World War II.
A fascinating and informative book to dip in and out of, a perfect present for the reader with the complete library, or great material for the pub bore in your life.
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Favourite phoney `facts' cleverly corrected
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Far removed from the usual cut `n' shut standard of this genre, the author engages and entertains with well-researched if fairly random snippets of history and culture. 180 short articles judge the evidence for many widely-accepted "facts" about the natural world, popular culture, history, literature and so on. Some are quite silly - toilets do not flush backwards in Australia - and others more serious - the American founding fathers had an inordinate fondness for slavery. The history bits later in the book, written from a solid British - actually Scottish - perspective, are particularly informative and reveal an impressive depth of knowledge and erudition. This is lightened by numerous pop culture references from the Simpsons and Star Trek to Coronation Street and even the `Cloggies'. (One of my favourite factoids - apparently the famed US 7th Cavalry used to be quite keen on competitive clog-dancing...in tights).
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