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The World According to Cunk: An Illustrated History of All World Events Ever, Space Permitting
256 pages, Paperback
Published October 9, 2025
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November 8, 2025
I adore Diane Morgan and her alter ego Philomena Cunk, and so I was surprised to find that this book fell a bit flat for me. I think the primary reason is that in her videos and TV series, she is skewering the documentary format as much as she is poking fun at the material itself. A huge part of the TV work is her interviewing actual historians and watching them try not to laugh as she asks idiotic questions with a straight face. Once I watched an episode where she was interviewing a historian who had made a documentary series on the history of art. Her interview with him was such a spot-0n parody of his own work that I was breathless with laughter. Without the interviews her style doesn't work quite as well.
Another issue with me was visuals. The book contained only a few quickly (and poorly) drawn pencil sketches. Given that Morgan has been able to film in some of the most exotic locations on earth, I wonder why the book had such little visual appeal.
Because Morgan was so successful at making parodies of BBC documentaries that perfectly mirrored the actual thing, I think this book might have worked better had she more thoroughly presented a parody of history books and not just historical events and people. One of the parts that worked the best for me was the "Immersion" questions in every chapter. More of this please!
Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of laughs, some LOL moments and many good chuckles. I am glad I read it, I just hope that if she writes another book, she makes it a unique offering and not a weak copy of her videos. Thanks to Grand Central publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Another issue with me was visuals. The book contained only a few quickly (and poorly) drawn pencil sketches. Given that Morgan has been able to film in some of the most exotic locations on earth, I wonder why the book had such little visual appeal.
Because Morgan was so successful at making parodies of BBC documentaries that perfectly mirrored the actual thing, I think this book might have worked better had she more thoroughly presented a parody of history books and not just historical events and people. One of the parts that worked the best for me was the "Immersion" questions in every chapter. More of this please!
Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of laughs, some LOL moments and many good chuckles. I am glad I read it, I just hope that if she writes another book, she makes it a unique offering and not a weak copy of her videos. Thanks to Grand Central publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Displaying 1 of 1 review