Customer Reviews

The Dead Guy Interviews: Conversations with 45 of the Most Accomplished, Notorious, and Deceased Personalities in History

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Dead Guy Interviews is based on the intriguing premise that forty-five of history's greatest, and most interesting, people can be summoned back to life long enough to sit for an interview with the author. The theory goes that Michael Stusser will ask the hard questions, questions that would have in some cases probably gotten him killed if he had dared to ask them during the actual lifetimes of his subjects. Stusser will combine insightful questions and humor in his interviews in a way that will provide the reader with forty-five painless little history lessons. So much for the theory, because in reality, this hit-and-miss book is more miss than hit.

Stusser interviews Beethoven, Napoleon, Churchill, Einstein, Darwin, Freud, Hoover, Poe, Mae West, Wilde, Crazy Horse, Washington, Lincoln, Julius Caesar, Buddha and thirty others. Each interview runs five or six pages and is introduced by a one-page biography of the person being interviewed. The interviews seldom fail to offer at least one or two lesser known, but intriguing, historical facts about their subjects but so many of the questions are phrased in such a sophomoric style of humor that the facts are soon overwhelmed by the silliness. And because Stusser sometimes has his historical figures respond in the same tone in which the questions are asked, many of them seem to have the same personality regardless of what they accomplished in life or in what era they lived. After a while it starts to seem that everyone who comes back to life does so with the personality of Don Rickles.

Although many, if not most, of the interviews stress the sex lives of those answering the questions, with Stusser seeming to take particular delight in pointing out how many great figures of history were either homosexual or bisexual, some of the conversations do serve as good capsule histories. Unfortunately, because of the numerous sex jokes and the constant trading of insults between interviewer and interviewee, those conversations do not happen as often as they could have.

More typical is the way that the interviewer begins his session with Mexican painter Frida Kahlo.

Michael Stusser: Gotta ask about the facial hair. Why not trim up the old mono-brow and wax the `stache, you know?

Frida Kahlo: Yes, I now see this is going to be like sitting with a pig for an hour. Why don't you shave your back?

But along the way we are reminded of Beethoven's deafness, that Mozart may have suffered from Tourette's syndrome, that only seven of Emily Dickinson's poems were published in her lifetime, and we learn how Harry Houdini (and Siegfried and Roy) made an elephant disappear on stage. Stusser provides the kind of historical trivia that puts a human face on history's legends but the book is ultimately less a history lesson than it is a book filled with jokes written at the expense of those legends.

[...]

Hilarious and informative! This book was not only a great read for a history buff like myself, but also really useful to me in the classroom as a high school history teacher!

First, I loved the compact bios before each interview. They refreshed my memory on each figure while including things I never knew. Impressive research work! The interviews themselves are witty, creative, fast-paced, sometimes irreverant, and full of contemporary references and humor.

As an educator who teaches about famous dead guys/gals everyday, this book is a godsend. I've already used three interviews in the classroom with great success! Students are drawn in and hooked by Mr. Stusser's ascerbic humor and engaging interview style. Then, they become fascinated with the person being interviewed and their personalities. They actually have asked to read more of the interviews. Yes, high school students asking to read more history!

A quick and entertaining read with each interview leaving you saying 'oh, just one more' and then you're done! I highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in historical figures but are repelled by dry biographies and endless historical tomes. Michael Stusser's interviews are fun and refreshing!

The idea for this book is one of those concepts you wonder why no one ever thought of before. Michael Stusser not only thought of it - but he pulled the whole thing off splendidly with his gritty and sassy journalistic style! Both hilarious and educational, The Dead Guy Interviews has 45 interviews with famous icons of the past we've heard of - but never had the chance to meet in person; from Alexander the Great to Oscar Wilde, and many in between. Have you ever wanted to sit face to face with Sigmund Freud and have him spill his guts? How about grilling Napoleon or getting to the bottom of Frida Kahlo's genius? Well, Stusser does it for you. By exposing historical rumors and monumental truths straight from the dead guy's mouths, the book had me intrigued and laughing out loud on every page! Highly recommended for anyone who loves history, biographies, or just plain crack-up humor.

Very Low Class; Far from what I expected...I could have done a better job and I have no capabilities as a writer.
Roger

If you could interview a famous person from history who would it be? Author Michael Stusser didn't have to choose. He reached into his imagination and created what he thought a sit down with some of the world's most famous and notorious people would be like. Each interview was only a few pages and they were easy to read, fun and humorous. I also learned quite a bit of interesting tidbits about these figures, not to mention history. The biggest surprise to me was Genghis Khan. Although he was a fierce warrior he also outlawed kidnapping, torture and abolished the sale of women. It is easy to see that Stusser researched these figures well yet also humanized them which brought them to life. If history was taught this way instead of dry narrative text, I think I would have done much better in school.

I hope the author does more of these. My suggestion: Horror movie icons.

"The Dead Guy Interviews" by Michael A. Stusser is a collection of some 45 supposed interviews with some of the most famous personalities to have walked down the corridors of time. From "Alexander the Great" to "Crazy Horse", and on to Oscar Wilde, the interview tapes just keep on rolling!

Mr. Stusser prefaces each interview with a short biographical fingerprint of the individual to be interviewed, and relays a great deal of fascinating facts in a finely constructed capsule of information. The interviews are satirical and some quite funny. Sometimes however, I felt the author was trying too hard to be funny and his humor became more "slap-stick" in nature than... genuine humor.

This is a fun book, and the type you want to keep by your bed at night or, in your bathroom to read... "when the urge hits you." This book would also be highly recommended for those very serious businessmen who make a living running from one airport to another in route to their boring staff meetings, and teleconferences.

The books format is well planned and the author's pick of subjects for interview are... brilliant. Simply put... a good book to hang on to.

Michael A. Stusser's book is creative, informative, and entertaining. Saying that Stusser is a clever an capable writer is like saying Eric Clapton is "good on the guitar." Stusser has a way with not just words but composition as well.

Stusser is also a capable and industrious researcher. As a history buff, I was already familiar with most of the people he "interviewed" for this book and quite familiar with some. Yet, I learned several new things about each one.

If you'd like to learn about some of the more influential (or simply interesting) characters in history, you will want to get this book. The format--a fictional interview--makes it much easier to read than a simple dry reciting of facts. The triple-layer wittiness of this book doesn't exactly hurt, either....

In the fictional interviews, Stusser plays the role of the sometimes stumbling interviewer. The interviewees variously insult him, make him wait, or take umbrage at a remark that wasn't intended to offend. These little riffs are funny. But so are the ones where Stusser updates some long-dead person on how we do things today. The way he carries it off makes me guffaw.

Sometimes, Stusser will pose an embarrassing question or ask the interviewee to explain some paradox, hypocrisy, or colossal blunder. The replies are in character, and you can hear this person deliver the retort. Sometimes, the replies are funny because the interviewee still doesn't get it. Sometimes, they are funny because the reply seems to go over the interviewer's head. Stusser the author lets Stusser the interviewer be clueless, sometimes. You just have to laugh.

My top three picks for "best interview" are:

Albert Einstein
Sigmund Freud
J. Edgar Hoover

That's not to say the other 42 are slouchers. They aren't. Some of them are real gems. The other 42 "interviews" are of:

Alexander the Great
Beethoven
Napoléon Bonaparte
Buddha
Julius Caesar
Caligula
George Washington
George Washington Carver
Catherine the Great
Winston Churchill
Cleopatra
Confucius
Crazy Horse
Salvador Dalí
Charles Darwin
Emily Dickinson
Benjamin Franklin
Genghis Khan
Vincent van Gogh
Henry VIII
Harry Houdini
Thomas Jefferson
Joan of Arc
Robert Johnson
Frida Kahlo
Leonardo da Vinci
Abraham Lincoln
Mao Tse-tung
Karl Marx
Michelangelo
Montezuma
Mozart
Nostradamus
Edgar Allan Poe
William Shakespeare
Sun Tzu
Mae West
Oscar Wilde
If you'd like to liven up a holiday party or some other kind of get-together, here's an idea. Have people study a character from history and then be interviewed as that character (preferably by a slightly aggressive reporter).

If that seems like too much work, then just use this book as a script and do a couple of short skits from it. See if you can get the right gestures and accents to go with the snarly replies. Maybe even wear period costumes and use props (the more ridiculous, the better). You'll have a blast. And if that seems like too much work, then just read this book. You'll get some easy laughs and learn some things, too.

This is an idea that has been used before, which is not necessarily a bad thing. John Kendrick Bangs wrote at least two books about a Houseboat on the Styx where such notables as Washington, Darwin, Hamlet, Raleigh, Dr. Johnson, and many others discuss issues on their way to Hades. More recently, Steve Allen wrote a couple of books, including Meeting of the Minds, where various historical figures discussed their accomplishments and current topics. These latter books were the result of an amazingly good television series by the same name, and were funny, perceptive, and very intelligently done.

Michael Stusser, who is a very good writer with an excellent sense of humor, tries a similar approach here, but for some reason, it just doesn't seem to work. The "interviews" all feel somehow very similar, and become tedious by the end of the book. The humor is at times forced, and is often very juvenile. For example, after spending an inordinate amount of space ridiculing Napoleon about his height, he starts in on his love life: "MS: And, according to several mistresses, a three-minute limit in the sack, and a two-inch schlong."

Mr. Stusser's encyclopedic knowledge of history is obvious, the introductory biography of each person is very nicely done, but the question and answer section seems to have been dashed off without a lot of thought or imagination. A good editor would have been a real plus for this book.

I have read all of the Mental Floss books, and this may be the best yet. The "Dead Guy Interviews" are short (2-6 page) conversations between author Michael Stusser and famous figures from history. His imagination is so colorful and the statements from the "interviewees" so realistic that I had to keep reminding myself that these were not real interviews.

Stusser really brings these characters to life. He captures their mannerisms, speech patterns, and idiosyncracies. And his humor is wonderful. Some of the funniest moments are when he tells J. Edgar Hoover that his bra strap is showing and asks artist Frida Kahlo if she ever considered getting her mustache waxed. I was left entertained and wanting to know more about some of these famous characters.

For anyone who thinks history is boring, if they read this book, they're sure to change their mind.

But it the funny kind of wore off after a while. The conversational format it was written in was interesting at first, but after a bit, it became rather tedious and predictable.