I really like bathroom-reader type books, and that’s what this is. Miscellaneous information given in short, easy to read snapshots.
Young Mr. McBride and Mr. Nief made two mistakes with this book… first, not all of these seventy-four articles are obscure (as the title says), and second, these are not “forgotten” — at least not to some of us who remember many of these.
But other than what I might consider a tad bit of a misleading title, this book is a wonderful glimpse at pop culture and history. While not everything here is forgotten or obscure, they certainly run the risk of being so, and McBride and Nief do well to remind us of these gems from our past.
The factual aspects appear well researched, but the attempts to be ‘cute’ or funny, particularly with the “Hypothetical Usage in a Sentence by the Old and Settled,” which ends each section fall short. The “Hypothetical Usage” doesn’t read as ‘real’ nor as funny and I would have been fine without it.
Looking for a good book? The Mindset List of the Obscure is good bathroom reading and a nice way to stay current with the past.
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The Mindset List of the Obscure: 74 Famously Forgotten American Icons From A To Z
authors: Tom McBride and Ron Nief
publisher: Sourcebooks
ISBN: 1402293461
paperback, 304 pages
Looking For a Good Book 