Customer Reviews

The Official Three Stooges Encyclopedia: The Ultimate Knucklehead's Guide to Stoogedom--From Amalgamated Association of Morons to Ziller, Zeller, and Zoller

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

As a very knowlegeable Three Stooges fan, I can honestly say that I've read almost every book available relating to the boys. Having read The Three Stooges Encyclopedia, I can also tell you, in my opinion, it is the best one out there.

Jay Leno once said "half the world loves the Stooges and the other half wonders why". Mr. Kurson does a wonderful job of bringing the latter side closer with his painstaking research and understanding of what made the Stooges funny. Being the Stoogefile that I am, I loved parts 2-4 which contained the most complete listing of every possible name of anything or anyone in every Stooge short. It was a great reminder of why I love them as much as I do.

For the non-Stooge fan (yes I know- some do exist!), if they were to read part 5 (which gave a detailed synopsis of every Stooge short ever made) then I'm sure they would be a Stooge fan now!

To the two narrow-minded critics of this book, please tell me where else you can find the words to the Maharaja routine or the words to Ze Lollipop song? Before you critique any other books, I suggest you ask yourselves one simple question; "What is the author trying to accomplish?"

What Mr. Kurson was able to accomplish through his seemingly painstaking (but enjoyable) research , was what made the Three Stooges the geniuses they were- it was their attention to detail. It's the names of their employers (Mr. A. Mouser, among others). It's where they worked (The Los Arms Hospital). Or even where they relaxed (The Hotel Coste Plente).

Any book can tell you about their history, from the days with Ted Healy and the Annette Kellerman Diving Girls to when their comeback occurred. However, no other book illustrates so vividly their verbal humour (and attention to the little written details) that made them what they were.

For that Mr. Kurson, I'm sure you made the boys proud. And as an author, you're the most intellgent imbecile who's every written a book about the Stooges. Excelsior!

Serious Stooge fans--beware! You or I could have written this book--off the tops of our heads. And we could have probably done a more thorough, definitive job.

The book looks great on the shelf. But "Encyclopedic?" With the exception of a few very general biographic details about some of the main players, this book reveals nothing that could not be learn by simply sitting and watching the films.

There is no insight into the people or the production of the films. No attempt to contextualize. No point of view.

It's as if the author knew nothing about film or the Stooges and was assigned by the publishers to sit, watch all the films, make a few notes about each one on a legal pad, then collate the information into a book. Any serious fan could have--should have--done better.

For all it's hundreds of pages and quality print job, it's infuriatingly empty -- and redundant, too. And what's with the lame clipart?

Stick with the vastly superior and more substantial Three Stooges Scrapbook -- still in print and available at Amazon.com

I received this book for Christmas and was really looking forward to it . . . until I started reading it. I won't reiterate the points made by the reviewer from New York (about two or three reviews down from this one), but I will say that he hit almost every point right on the money.

This is not an encyclopedia as much as it is a hard cover fanzine. There is nothing informative here. Watch a Stooge short, jot down odd names or events, and viola you have the Three Stooges Encyclopedia.

The reproduced stills have been reproduced ad nauseum in countless other books. You learn nothing about the boys, their careers, or the times in which the films were produced. I would find this type of information more important than seeing a definition of Brighto.

The Stooges were too important a comedy force to be glossed over in a book like this. And as a side note, I find it rather sad that the author and his brother cannot let the book stand on its own merit, but rather have to write their own reviews after getting a negative one.

As a final note, I once again agree with the New York reviewer that the Three Stooges Scrapbook is by far THE definative "encyclopedia" on the career of the greatest comedy team of all time.

Not sure what the sign of someone's door said in MONKEY BUSINESSMEN? You'll find it in THE THREE STOOGES ENCYCLOPEDIA. This has some of the Stooges most famous quotes, songs, signs and so much more. You should buy this. This is the perfect addition to your Three Stooges collection.

What a great idea whose time has come. I just picked up a copy last week and was thoroughly impressed and surprised at how thorough this book was. It covers everything about the Stooges- and I mean everything!

I couldn't believe how thorough the author was in compiling information about EVERY SINGLE short they ever did! I laughed at the stuff I remembered and HOWLED at the stuff I forgot but was reminded of. For example, it lists every detail and info. you could ever want- from the names of products to places on maps and lots more. Wow!

All I can say is that if anyone loves or even likes the Stooges, you gotta get this book- trust me! You'd have to be a *real* imbecile not to.

Well done Mr. Kurson.

curleyq

When Comedy III acquired the official rights to the Three Stooges name, lots of low quality items started flooding the market. The Three Stooges Encyclopedia is a continuation of this low quality trend. The book is difficult to use, and really tells very little about the famous comedy team. Instead of being a reference book to the Stooges, it clutters its pages with worthless items like obscure quotes from the shorts. You want to see a good encyclopedia about a classic comedy team? Flip through the Marx Brothers Encyclopedia. This one isn't worth your time.

This book is a Stooge fan's dream come true. I saw a reviewer say this book is cluttered and unuseable. Bull. Then again, he stated the Marx Brothers Encyclopedia is easier to use. I own that book and its more cluttered then this book. This book has everything in a nice, neat order. I own two copies of the book, after one fell apart. I emailed the author a back when I first bought the book and he is a very kind man. We had many discussions about our love for the Stooges. I highly recommend this book to Stooge fans. No Stooge book will probably ever compare to this one.

I thought this was a great book. The beginning is a biography of the Stooges Career, plus a short bio of each of the 3, or 6, stooges. Then the encyclopedia part. If the Stooges said it, met it, ate it, were hit by it, it's in this encylcopedia. It even gives 100 of Moe's insults. Then it has all 190 shorts and the 6 films in the back with a short overview, third stooge, and their nemesis. This is a great book and should be in the bookshelf of any Stooge Fan. Nyuk, Nyuk, Nyuk!!!

Informative, entertaining and insightful. A very original presentation of the most original comedy team ever. Readers are given new insight into each Stooge and a sense of where their genius originated. Especially interesting are the well written accounts of their personal idiosyncrasies as well as their relationships with each other. Time flies when reading this.

What a fun book! Good organization, funny entries, really complete information. I even found the words to the Be-A-Be song! I really enjoyed this and will give it to my friends for Christmas -- at least a few of them, anyway!