What do you think?
Rate this book
Du sollst nicht Deine Tante aufessen!
Crossing continents and centuries Stephen Arnott brings us invaluable information about all kinds of bizarre regional customs — from sexual practices to the received wisdom on cannibalism — that could save you from embarrassing local faux pas while travelling.
- GenresNonfictionHumor
Hardcover
First published September 1, 2004
About the author
Stephen Arnott
18 books11 followersStephen Arnott is a UK writer, born abroad, who now lives in East Anglia. He's worked as a freelance feature writer and magazine editor, and has had writing jobs in television and radio.
Aside from Jack Bleacher: a parody, Stephen has also written a number of non-fiction and humour titles. He also writes Dark Age fiction (the Leofric adventures) under the pen name 'S. J. Arnott'.
His favourite thriller author is Lee Child, creator of the indomitable Jack Reacher.
His favourite historical authors include George MacDonald Fraser (Flashman), C. S. Forester (Hornblower), Patrick O'Brian (Aubrey-Maturin), Bernard Cornwell (Sharpe), Alfred Duggan and Mary Renault.
You can find out more on his author website: www.sjarnott.com.
Aside from Jack Bleacher: a parody, Stephen has also written a number of non-fiction and humour titles. He also writes Dark Age fiction (the Leofric adventures) under the pen name 'S. J. Arnott'.
His favourite thriller author is Lee Child, creator of the indomitable Jack Reacher.
His favourite historical authors include George MacDonald Fraser (Flashman), C. S. Forester (Hornblower), Patrick O'Brian (Aubrey-Maturin), Bernard Cornwell (Sharpe), Alfred Duggan and Mary Renault.
You can find out more on his author website: www.sjarnott.com.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 8, 2010
Stephen Arnott, Eating Your Auntie Is Wrong: The World's Strangest Customs (Ebury Press, 2005)
About six months ago I read a wonderful, if frustrating, book called Bizarre Books, which was in essence a list of awesome, silly, and strange book titles. Many of the titles given us begged for greater exposition, but none was forthcoming without actually hunting down the books themselves, many of which have been out of print for decades, if not centuries. I got a lot of that same feel while perusing Stephen Arnott's wonderful, if frustrating, Eating Your Auntie Is Wrong. While I give Arnott points for including a bibliography in the back of the book, it would have been nice to point each individual custom to a particular book for the curious reader who wanted some context.
The subtitle tells you pretty much everything you need to know; Arnott has compiled a list of the bizarre, the strange, and the outright odd when it comes to the way societies deal with stuff. Many of these rites have to do with the big three (birth, marriage, and death; I'll leave it to you to decide which of the three the title deals with. You perv.), of course, but the customs mentioned cover everything from table etiquette to livestock. (It's also amusing to go along reading about ancient African customs and then stumble across something collected from, say, 1930s Devon.) All in all a fine collection, but an easier way to get context would have served greatly here. ***
About six months ago I read a wonderful, if frustrating, book called Bizarre Books, which was in essence a list of awesome, silly, and strange book titles. Many of the titles given us begged for greater exposition, but none was forthcoming without actually hunting down the books themselves, many of which have been out of print for decades, if not centuries. I got a lot of that same feel while perusing Stephen Arnott's wonderful, if frustrating, Eating Your Auntie Is Wrong. While I give Arnott points for including a bibliography in the back of the book, it would have been nice to point each individual custom to a particular book for the curious reader who wanted some context.
The subtitle tells you pretty much everything you need to know; Arnott has compiled a list of the bizarre, the strange, and the outright odd when it comes to the way societies deal with stuff. Many of these rites have to do with the big three (birth, marriage, and death; I'll leave it to you to decide which of the three the title deals with. You perv.), of course, but the customs mentioned cover everything from table etiquette to livestock. (It's also amusing to go along reading about ancient African customs and then stumble across something collected from, say, 1930s Devon.) All in all a fine collection, but an easier way to get context would have served greatly here. ***
May 5, 2010
Fascinating, Side-splitting but often distasteful!
No part of the world is free of strangeness and folly.
No part of the world is free of strangeness and folly.
January 26, 2008
Another good weird trivia book. It's mainly about odd customs and cultures.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews