diegous333

I can’t rightly recall the number of times I’ve read this book, an old favourite in my dad’s book collection. A production of the Not Terribly Good Club of Great Britain dating to 1980 (apparently no longer in existence since as a direct result of the book the club gained a sizeable influx of membership and became a roaring success, forcing them to close down), The Book of Heroic Failures casts aside the modern pressures of success and celebrates the wide variety of inadequacies and failures of human endeavour. Whilst the book, at 32 years old, is now a little out of date and cannot bring readers the latest hilarious anecdotes of man-made catastrophe, Pile draws together both historical and more recent tales of disaster on a global scale, and Einstein’s reflection upon the constancy of human stupidity is vividly illustrated in a lively and genial writing style. The Book of Heroic Failures has always been good for a laugh in our household. 8 out of 10.

2023-07-01 11:44