Customer Reviews

Who Cut the Cheese?: A Cultural History of the Fart

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Absolutely hilarious, thoroughly researched and very well-written.

Appeals to both my literate, probing, analytical University-graduate side...and my giggling, scatological idiot side.

Guaranteed to get you a full row of seats to yourself when you read it on the subway, even at rush hour, and (if you can remain totally deadpan), a source of endless amusement when you ask for it in book stores or libraries...even if you already have a copy!

Wonderful examples of farts and scatology through history, music, different cultures (Did you know that the Arab words for "silent fart" and "death sentence" are only one letter different?) and literature. And of course, there's a whole chapter on the French music hall entertainer "Le Petomaine"!

The transcript of the legendary "Crepitation Contest" record almost made me choke on my Timbits when I read it at a local donut shop.

An absolute must-have for both the scholarly and the silly!

I bought this book expecting it to be rather more of a "how-to" guide than it turned out to be. That said, it was still immensely useful and exposes many myths. I, for one, had mistakenly subscribed to that well-known myth that Arabs consider it the height of good manners to break wind during and after a meal. Sadly, this is untrue. If only I had had this book *before* I dined with the secretary-general of OPEC in '96!

I admit it, I bought this book for my husband as a joke. However, this tongue in cheek scholarly tome on the history of flatulance pleasantly surprised us both! I would like to trumpet it's appeal as a breath of fresh air with a mighty blast. What a toot! Er, ah, hoot. Good thing there isn't a scratch and sniff edition though...

This is great knowledge. Only an anal retentive author such as Mr. Dawson would pay so much attention and detail, and add such light aired wit to such an otherwise offensive topic. Through exaustive and careful reseach, the author has managed to be a cut above the cheese. Good reading for all.

There is a line in an Eddie Murphy stand up routine from the 80's where he says "It's the fart game son you'll play it one day". I picked up this book because frankly I am a gaseous girl, who grew up playing the fart game in my house. My father used to lock the windows to our station wagon and made us guess what he had for breakfast, my sisters used to hold me down and poot in my face, we all did the pull my finger joke and we had our own names for the act:

The Barking Spider, "just stepped on a frog", Chocolate Zephyr, Rumbling Paducah, A Howdy, Perfwanky, Beefed, cat food pancake.

This book is like a bible for me, a reference book, and the encyclopedia fartanica if you will. It isn't just a book that you might put in someone's Christmas stocking to get a guffaw "oh look uncle bob got a book from Santa on farting, what a gas!"
It's full of literary references, Shakespearean sonnets, historical data, scientific facts, myths and legends, all you ever wanted to know but they never taught you in 5th grade biology! Besides all the learning you will accomplish, it's also just a funny read and that's really what the game is all about.

A real "fartingly" funny book! It gives you the medical background information on farts, how they're formed, make the noise, smell, etc. Yet at the sametime you laugh your butt off in the way it's explained.

For a holiday gift that I purchased as a gag gift for my father..........this gift turned out to be a pretty big hit! The author presents this distasteful subject in a way that actually makes it culturally/historically interesting. This book has now been passed around my family and the subject matter has been dicussed at length and debated. Even my mom (who dislikes this kind of subject-matter) is in on the discussions. Pretty interesting stuff........

this makes for perfect reading, where else, but on the john!!!

The potty humor in this book and the laughter it evoked from me annoyed my wife in a most excellent way. My wife was, however, impressed by the allusions and citations from classic literature. It is a great book for the excremeditation chamber.

This book is filled with relevant historic facts and humorous jokes and other tales. It's one of those books that has you laughing and feeling good afterward. I was really impressed by the knowledge shared in this book and the humor that surrounds it. I love it!!!