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The Dead Guy Interviews: Conversations with 45 of the Most Accomplished, Notorious, and Deceased Personalities in History
by
The interviewees in this irreverent book may not have a pulse, but, boy, can they talk!
Ever wanted to ask Nostradamus for the winning lotto numbers or van Gogh about the whole ear episode? How about Napoleon about his complex, or if Frida might consider a brow wax? In "The Dead Guy Interviews," journalist Michael Stusser has created forty- five interviews with some of th ...more
Ever wanted to ask Nostradamus for the winning lotto numbers or van Gogh about the whole ear episode? How about Napoleon about his complex, or if Frida might consider a brow wax? In "The Dead Guy Interviews," journalist Michael Stusser has created forty- five interviews with some of th ...more
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Paperback, 291 pages
Published
September 25th 2007
by Penguin Group
(first published 2007)
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Start your review of The Dead Guy Interviews: Conversations with 45 of the Most Accomplished, Notorious, and Deceased Personalities in History
I found this book thanks to an ad in Mental Floss magazine, and I thought the concept was really interesting. Since reading this, I've seen similar books devoted to the idea that the author sits down and interviews a famous person from history.
This one was an easy read in the sense that it's another collection of vignettes that can be read one at a time, and you don't have to worry about how they all mesh together. Some of the historical personalities I didn't care for, and others had phonetic s ...more
This one was an easy read in the sense that it's another collection of vignettes that can be read one at a time, and you don't have to worry about how they all mesh together. Some of the historical personalities I didn't care for, and others had phonetic s ...more
I thought it was a good idea poorly executed. (Sorry.)
Ok, so I was tempted when I read the title of this book, because I was in the mood to read a lot of biographies (why not start with this?)... so I purchased it. The concept itself was pretty interesting but I didn't like the way it was done. There were just too many aspects that bothered me. First of all I bought this to learn more about certain historical figures, but the interviews oftentimes ask questions about things I haven't heard of before - it would have been nice, if some of the key que
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Totally loved it! Many different famous and well-known people, "interviewed" one by one. Must have been difficult to wonder how these people would have responded; very good idea.
I didn't want to peek at who was next, pleasant surprise every couple of pages . . . like a present on Christmas morning. ...more
I didn't want to peek at who was next, pleasant surprise every couple of pages . . . like a present on Christmas morning. ...more
This was a most pleasant surprise! It was educational and entertaining. I do suggest spending the time it takes to enjoy this book!
A fun, fairly quick read with a unique presentation of history that's refreshing for someone that's read alot of storylines.
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Ten years later and I still give this book three stars. It is an enjoyable read. It's quirky and light-hearted. It follows the author "interviewing" 45 different historical figures, such as Winston Churchill, Cleopatra, Genghis Khan, and others.
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The premise of this book is that the author "interviews" a number of famous people, now dead, about their lives as a pretext for summing up what made these people so famous, giving them a chance to clear up a few misconceptions in the process. Each interview is about 2-3 pages, and the subjects range from all walks of life, from ancient history (Ghengis Kahn, Alexander the Great) to science (George Washington Carver, Albert Einstein) to literature (Emily Dickenson, Shakespeare) to politics (Wins
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A quick, light read by mentalfloss.com author Michael Stusser. The conceit is that Stusser is 'interviewing' historical figures, all of whom speak in an odd, self-aware modern American patter with occasional fake accents. The 'interviews' allow Stusser to give a quick verbal sketch of each character's life, plus lots of jokes.
The book is a weirdly heroic attempt to package up some history with humor, but it didn't quite work for me. As history, it barely scratches the surface. The jokes are fun ...more
The book is a weirdly heroic attempt to package up some history with humor, but it didn't quite work for me. As history, it barely scratches the surface. The jokes are fun ...more
In theory, I would have loved this book.
However, it was terrible. Not even worth reading through to the end. Stusser pretty much lost all my respect when, in the Beethoven chapter, he wrote "It is said that Beethoven was the transitional figure between the classical and romantic eras of musical history - whatever the hell that mean." Really?! This is supposed to be an educational and informative book, and instead of, you know, trying to educate, the best you can do is put "whatever the hell that ...more
However, it was terrible. Not even worth reading through to the end. Stusser pretty much lost all my respect when, in the Beethoven chapter, he wrote "It is said that Beethoven was the transitional figure between the classical and romantic eras of musical history - whatever the hell that mean." Really?! This is supposed to be an educational and informative book, and instead of, you know, trying to educate, the best you can do is put "whatever the hell that ...more
The Dead Guy Interviews: Conversations with 45 of the Most Accomplished, Notorious, and Deceased Personalities in History is an interesting look at some of history's famous people. A bit boring and silly at times, and as other reviewers said the writing to reflect accents etc. got annoying. But if you are bored and one some small interesting tid-bits of history go for it.
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An interesting concept interviews with famous dead people. As interesting as the concept is it's difficult to read straight through. I suggest having The Dead Guy Interviews on your night stand and reading random interviews when the fancy strikes. I would be interested to know how historically accurate the information is as I could see using bits and pieces to introduce different units or as part of instruction.
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It was a humorous way to discuss some of the important historical figures. It is written for a young adult audience, but I stilll learned from it. I have always had trouble remembering people and dates in history and the way the information was presented assisted me in being able to retain the information.
Full of facts, highly irreverent, and thoroughly entertaining...a great book to keep on hand for those times when you want to read, but don't have a large amount of time to do so...the interviews can be read separately in just a few minutes apiece.
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The author should have "interviewed" half the subjects in more depth. After the first five, this was very predictable and repetitive. This is possibly a good vehicle for teaching history to a twelve-year-old, but didn't do much for me.
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On the one hand, this is both funny and surprisingly instructive. On the other hand, I disliked how the interview subjects from foreign countries said "zem" and "ziss", and how Crazy Horse didn't use pronouns or articles. A few of these at a time go a long way.
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Interesting premise. Guy magically interviews dead people. Somehow they all know English and sometimes, sometimes not know about current events. Not really sure some of them spoke perfect English and others came back talking in an accent.
It was OK, but I gave up partway through. Clever idea, just not interesting enough to keep my attention very long. I'd say it might be good for teen readers, but there's some mildly racy content (not obscene or anything, just talk of historical figures' sexual escapades in a funny/euphemistic way).
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There were times when it was amusing, and there were times that I felt like I'm just reading a series of biographies off the net. Though it was nice "meeting" some historical figures I'm not acquainted with, and knowing America's Founding Founders and why they were so great.
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It was a boring book. I thought is was going to be much funnier(it was in the comedy section) but it was just the same stuff over and over again.
of a humorous bent but not interesting enough for me to continue reading it all the way through
I got a quick history lesson and learned some things I ignored in school! Really! This is a fun and educational book :-)
pretty cute, easy read.
Interesting people Stusser decided to interview. The read got tedious,,,he tried for too much humor, which I didn't think was funny.
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My gut tells me that the scholarship derives from the Encyclopedia Britanica, but as far as a quick read to take on an airplane or more morning bus commute, it did its job.
Really funny and informative too. Loved it.
Not everyone in our book club enjoyed this book - but I really like it! A fun twist on what some of these interesting historical figures may have really been thinking! A fun read!
This is HILARIOUS,HISTORICAL & a book you will want to share with other's!
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Jan 19, 2012
Carol
rated it
really liked it
Recommends it for:
Norman Hart
Recommended to Carol by:
Evelyn Combs
I really enjoyed this mix of history and humor and I also learned some things.
Funny, insightful, and down to earth fictional interviews with the most famous people in human history!
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Michael A. Stusser is a Seattle-based free-lance writer and game inventor. His “Accidental Parent” column (ParentMap magazine) recently won the prestigious Gold Award at the Parents Publication Awards, and his “Dead Guy Interviews” (Mental Floss magazine) will be released by Penguin Publishing in 2007. Stusser is a contributing writer for Seattle Magazine and his work is frequently published by La
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