Customer Reviews

An Uncommon History of Common Things

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Great book! Alot of fun to read! Bought for husband as Christmas present. Lots of interesting and facts and antedotes in this book, worth the money. Will read myself when he gets done!

Fun book but I felt is was too expensive in hardback. I am not sure why Amazon is not selling the paperback version but I found it for $9.98 in my local big box book store. This seems to be one case where Amazon does not have everything.

I gave this as a gift to my goddaughter and my husband. Both are thoroughly enjoying the trivia and tales. It makes for a lot of "Did you know?" conversations that are both fun and engaging.

My husband bought this book because he wanted a bathroom reader and I'm a useless-information junkie. I was hoping the book would be packed with nifty tidbits and juicy anecdotes. But halfway through it, I was getting the sneaking suspicion a lot of what I was reading was ... well ... somewhat lacking in the facts department.
The entries are, for the most part, excessively brief and throw out bits of history and culture helter-skelter, without any attempt at context. I assumed that was just the editors, trying to make things fit on the page. There were several instances in the sections on traditions, ceremonies and rituals where a single origin theory was presented as fact, when there are actually several competing theories (as with the origins of Mother Goose).
But when I got to the bit on baby names, I felt like smacking myself in the forehead. The authors had NO idea what they were talking about as regards Scandinavian names -- they said the children of Olaf would be Harald Olafsson (son) and Sigrid Olafsson (daughter). Then, to compound their error, they said some Scandinavian names followed the maternal line, and the children of Sigrid would be named Liv Sigridsdottir and Leif Sigridsdottir. That's the stupidest thing I've ever read. "Son" means son (obviously) and "dottir" means daughter. Not even the drunkest Viking would name his son daughter-of-Sigrid.
My only conclusion is the authors came across some girls named for their mothers and made the stunning leap that ALL of that family's kids had the same surname.
I have to wonder how many other times similar errors and leaps of illogic were made; clearly their fact-checkers (if they had any) did not do their jobs.
In short, the book is somewhat entertaining, but its claims to be a "history" of any sort are questionable at best. It is a collection of popular theory, rumor, myth and legend, packaged in a bright, easy-to-read volume. But before you go quoting it to anyone, you might want to check your "facts."

If you are a fan of trivia, you'll enjoy knowing the background behind these everyday things. Makes great dinner party conversation!

I bought this as a present to my Dad for X-Mas and he loves it! Especially since he loves reading about the history of things! GREAT GIFT!

I purchased this book for my son from Amazon. He enjoys reading about uncommon subjects. His response when he opened the package was an enthusiastic "this looks interesting". The gift was a hit. How he felt after reading it......I don't know.

This book is perfect if enjoy oddball trivia, and odd facts for things you would see or use. Some may be old knowledge, and some maybe surprising. A good boook for some light hearted " I did not know that" reading.

This book is full of exactly what it says: Uncommon History of Common Things. It is definitely a fun family book for sharing and learning and starting discussions. I would get this for anyone who has an interest in learning random trivia!

I needed a gift for my dad's birthday. He likes to read books in front of the television. I discovered this book in a well reguarded catalog. I found it cheaper on Amazon.com. Dad loves the book. He discovers many interesting facts everytime he reads it.