Strange Stains and Mysterious Smells: Based on Quentin Cottington's Journal of Faery Research [Hardcover]

Terry Jones (Author), Brian Froud (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 25, 1996

Once again in desperate need of cash, ex-Monty Python member Jones and renowned faery authority and illustrator Froud team up to present the hilarious sequel to the brilliantly successful Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book. Lady Cottington's previously unknown twin brother, Quentin, employs his "psychic image nebulizing generator" and "psychic odour nasalizing gasificator" to analyze the protoplasmic nature of the mysterious stains left by pressed fairies.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition (November 25, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684832062
• ISBN-13: 978-0684832067
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #932,868 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rather inventive, July 3, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Strange Stains and Mysterious Smells: Based on Quentin Cottington's Journal of Faery Research (Hardcover)

Hilarious and all-together head-scratching, as you find yourself realizing they're talking about something you've been wondering about all along. You may have thought you were the only one undergoing the cruel and unusual punishment of these noxious fumes and stains, but here you find you are not alone... If you're going to read this aloud as a bed-time book or as a book of quotations, you are required by law to read it aloud with an English accent. If you cannot speak with an English accent or if it is terrible beyond measure, please read silently. Don't even mouth the words as you read. If by chance, you meet someone who is talking about smells and stains in a bad English accent, smack him. If he's bigger than you, you may let him off with a warning...or politely kick him and run, because big guys take longer to build up the inertia to accelerate than little guys. If he doesn't catch you and is breathing heavily, then run up to him and smack him. That should get the point across.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just funny..., December 11, 2000

By 

E. D. Garcia "Biggie-E" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Strange Stains and Mysterious Smells: Based on Quentin Cottington's Journal of Faery Research (Hardcover)

...but also a bit disarming! Some of the stains and "odor" illustrations in the book look... well, "fresh". I'm not altogether sure that I want to know how the book publisher achieved this effect, but it definately adds bonus points in my mind.

So, the authors of the book claim to have found a gadget that allows them to communicate with smells and stains. Odd, to think that such things are sentient, but nonetheless, their commentary is, of course, hilarious.

Not that I mean to give anything away, but my personal favorite is "The Great Stain of the Apocalypse" and the theory surrounding it. You'll have to get the book (which I recommend) to find out more!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Funny Funny Funny, September 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Strange Stains and Mysterious Smells: Based on Quentin Cottington's Journal of Faery Research (Hardcover)

I like this book, it's funny, the text, the illustrations! I must say, it is not one of Frouds' & Jones' best work, but still it is funny. I especially like the glow-in-the-dark stains that appears on some pages in the book...(what i really miss in the book though is smells, it would be so cool with scrape and smell pictures!!) I think that anyone coming up with such an idea of a book deserves good credit, and i wish that i would've had this book as a child!! What fun it would have been! Having worked at a kindergarden and read a million and one stories i know that kids aprechiate this type of humour, but i think that there should be a "childrens edition" to this book due to some of the language in the book...but all in all it is a good and funny book, and i especially like the "ode to an armpit" (can't remember the full title) poem...