What Were They Thinking?, New and Revised: Really Bad Ideas Throughout History (Humor) [Paperback]

Bruce Felton (Author)

Book Description

Series: Humor | Publication Date: May 1, 2007

Now revised and expanded, this best-selling compendium of some 400 harebrained schemes, fool notions, and misguided obsessions both grandiose and mundane covers bad ideas in politics, science, sports, and more.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A book of blunders in every field of human endeavor, What Were They Thinking? provides at least one hearty laugh per page."
--David Wallechinsky, author of The Book of Lists and The People's Almanac

From the Back Cover

Why would a Boston shoplifter hide stolen lobsters in his underwear? What would possess a California physician to give a cadaver’s severed hand as a romantic gift? What mental misfire led an Atlanta Braves pitcher to iron his shirt—while he was wearing it? Renowned bad idea connoisseur Bruce Felton examines these unanswerable questions and many others in What Were They Thinking?, revised for this edition to include recently unearthed harebrained schemes, useless products, and misguided obsessions. You’ll learn the stories behind:

 

•  The World War II plot to attack Buckingham Palace with exploding ­chocolate bars
•  The zoo that encouraged visitors to shoot the animals (and even supplied rifles for an extra charge)
•  The travelers’ phrase book that translates “The cockroaches have eaten my shirt,” “Is there a taboo on your house?” and “Where can I defecate?”
•  The British plan to tear down the Taj Mahal and sell the pieces to interior decorators
•  The Elvis Vegiform, a plastic mold that turns any vegetable into a bust of the King      

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Lyons Press; Revised edition (May 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1599211327
• ISBN-13: 978-1599211329
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,582,738 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Historical Oddities & Oddballs - Version 2!, August 21, 2008

By 

Michael OConnor "Wordsmith" (Wausau, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: What Were They Thinking?, New and Revised: Really Bad Ideas Throughout History (Humor) (Paperback)

Bruce Felton's WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? was first published in 2003. It offered 274 pages of stories on 'Really Bad Ideas Throughout History.' This 2007 revision, which adds a few new tales and drops others, tops off at 291 pages.

Felton's material is divided into chapters entitled 'Bad Ideas in American Politics and Government,' 'Bad Ideas in War and Peace,' 'Bonehead Plays in the Field of Sports,' etc. The subject of Felton's tales range from serious (Seward's Folly) to oddball (artist Rudy Giacomo's plans to build a 39-mile manicotti around New York City) to trivial (bad ideas for movies). Each chapter has been revised with two-three tales dropped and as many as five new entries added. Entries range from two paragraphs to two pages long in length.

Maybe I've just read too many of this sort of book but I got a sense of 'deja vu all over again' in reading through Felton's. A number of stories - such as Ethiopia's electric chair saga - may ring a bell with you as well.

WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? sells for $14.95. If you're a serious trivia buff, I suspect you'll want to scoop this up. All things considered however, I don't feel it's a necessary purchase.