Customer Reviews

The Good, the Bad & the Mad: Weird People in American History

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According to the author of this book,E.Randall Floyd,he'kept notes and collected biographical data,tons of it"on the 40 or so subjects of this book...Now while I do not suggest that I can dispute every entry,there are several people here that Randall has profiled using faulty or flat-out made up data,which is suggestive to me that most and perhaps all of his mini-biographies are flawed...Take,for example,Lizzie Borden...according to Randall"...at her trial lizzie gave a bewildering array of conflicting stories about her whereabouts during the murder"WRONG ! Lizzie Borden DID NOT TESTIFY AT HER OWN TRIAL !Indeed the trial record clearly states that her one comment was that she would have her lawyers speak for her!So how come Randall has Lizzie making these"conflicting accounts"?Because they were made AT THE INQUEST,NOT THE TRIAL,and,because they were made without benifit of an attorney's advice they were never admitted as evidence at her trial.One would think that something as basic as this would not have been missed,or misunderstood by any REAL journalist.Then there is the notion,on Randall's part that the alledged murder weapon was discovered "in a toolshed out back"WRONG AGAIN !The item in question was discovered in the basement of the Borden home.Later on Randall claims that"a few years before her death" lizzie vacated her parents working class home in order to move into a mansion on the fashionable"hill" section of Fall River...Lizzie did this within one year of her aquittal,in the 1890s,and did not actually die until 1927,about thirty years afterwards..the list of mistakes and omissions IN THIS ONE ENTRY ALONE are almost endless,which leads me to believe that there are other entries with similiarly botched research(if what Randall has done here can even be called such)...I mean,if we are going to write fiction,Mr.Randall,we really ought to identify it as such.

Containing extremely short biographies of some of the most intriguing people in American History, "The Good, The Bad & the Mad" is a book well worth reading for anyone who is interested in American history and/or the characters that made it up. Containing vignettes on such personages as P.T. Barnum, Marie Laveau, H.P Lovecraft, Ambrose Bierce and Nikola Tesla, just to name a VERY few, this is a very easily-accessible way to learn a little bit about a lot of people. It has made me interested to learn more about many of these fascinating people who helped create our melting pot.

I didn't know what to expect from this book. I bought it because I have read some of Professor Floyd's other books and liked them all, especially the "unsolved mystery" varieties. This book was fascinating! In fact, I liked it so much I read it through at a single sitting. My wife kept asking: "What are you doing?" I kept saying, "I'm reading about Stonewall Jackson." A few minutes later, she'd ask: "What are you doing?" And I'd say: "I'm reading about General Custer." So it went for about three hours. From Jackson and Custer to Huey Long and Cotton Mather and Isadore Duncan. These were definitely some of the strangest people in American history! After reading the book, I passed it on to my brother, a history professor in Alamaba. Just wanted to say thanks for a fascinating book!

I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of "mini-biographies" by E. Randall Floyd. These people were truly good, bad and mad--and definitely "weird" in every sense of the word.

I have passed this book along to several friends who have also enjoyed learning so much "dark stuff" about some of America's greatest literary, artistic and historical icons. I hope to see a follow-up book very soon!!!

This book makes me wish I had Professor Floyd as a history teacher. These crazy people come to life in a way that makes me almost cry one moment, laugh the next. Some were quite scary and makes me wonder how I missed knowing all this stuff about them for so long. I really think more teachers should tell the truth about the people in our country's past the same way Prof. Floyd has done. Excellent job and highly recommended!

I grew up reading about so many of the people mentioned in Mr. Floyd's book. It shocks me to now learn just how truly weird they were away from the public's eye. I liked this book. So did my kids. In fact, I got both of my school kids to take it to school and show it to their teacher!

I'm not sure the author of this book knows the definition of 'weird'. What makes Isadora Duncan 'weird' or Tecumseh or 80% of the other people listed in this book? One of my all time heroes Nikola Tesla's actual 'weirdness' is glossed over in less than three sentences, then we're told it's 'bizzare behavior' to watch and enjoy a lightning storm or to feed and care for animals in the park. This book is pap, a meaningless collection of watered down facts about people you've barely or never heard of and won't care about once you have.