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Unusually Stupid Americans: A Compendium of All-American Stupidity
A hilarious collection of lists, statistics, news items, quotations, and facts detailing stupid acts of Americans from all walks of life—by the authors of the bestselling The 776 Stupidest Things Ever Said
Everyone knows that America is “the land of the free and the home of the brave,” but sometimes that means we’re free to be as bravely stupid as we want! In Unusually Stupid Americans , Kathryn Petras and Ross Petras assemble choice bits of stupidity, U.S.A.-style, including
•the top seriously flawed American advertising moments, including Pacific Airlines’ brilliant “You’re scared of flying? So’s our pilot!” ad campaign, which led the airline to bankruptcy within two months of the campaign’s inception
•the Martin Luther King, Jr., celebration in Florida, where a plaque was un-veiled that was intended to honor the actor James Earl Jones but instead read, “Thank you James Earl Ray for keeping the dream alive” (an unfortunate slip-up, as James Earl Ray was King’s assassin)
•and much more!
Everyone knows that America is “the land of the free and the home of the brave,” but sometimes that means we’re free to be as bravely stupid as we want! In Unusually Stupid Americans , Kathryn Petras and Ross Petras assemble choice bits of stupidity, U.S.A.-style, including
•the top seriously flawed American advertising moments, including Pacific Airlines’ brilliant “You’re scared of flying? So’s our pilot!” ad campaign, which led the airline to bankruptcy within two months of the campaign’s inception
•the Martin Luther King, Jr., celebration in Florida, where a plaque was un-veiled that was intended to honor the actor James Earl Jones but instead read, “Thank you James Earl Ray for keeping the dream alive” (an unfortunate slip-up, as James Earl Ray was King’s assassin)
•and much more!
- GenresHumorNonfiction
288 pages, Paperback
First published October 21, 2003
1 person is currently reading
49 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
October 7, 2011
Well this one definately gets mixed reviews from me. Some sections were funny, but most were infuriating or just sad. Also, the authors seem to be pretty conservative given some of the stuff they label as "stupid" (feng shui, sex ed, alternative medicine, etc).
March 23, 2011
I don't know if I should cry or be scared for our future.
June 6, 2019
Very funny collection of unusual, silly, or just plain weird things that Americans have done. The book is divided into chapters covering such subjects as Food, Law/Lawyers, Money/Stocks, Taxes, Advertising, and others. Actually the sections about Education and Government were almost more sad than funny. So many over-zealous educators punishing students in crazily over-the-top ways or creative teachers using strange methods to "liven up" the classroom. And the government officials were often shocking in their corruption and stupidity This book was published in 2003, but it still produces laughs and groans today. Which just goes to show that people can still be just as foolish and clueless no matter the time period. I will definitely keep reading books from this brother/sister team and enjoying the heck out of their tongue-in-cheek collections.
August 17, 2014
I have a sense of humor. I like to think it is a good one, but I am definitely too close to be objective on the subject. What I have learned recently is that reading a book, one that is written with the intent of entertaining with humor, can become a chore if I don’t appreciate the authors’ sense of humor.
And such was the case with this book.
Perhaps it started with a few obvious errors. There could be innumerable one; I honestly don’t know. I do know that the first two that jumped out at me were:
▸ “Students were not told that Dr. Frankenstein was
not a real biologist and that he didn’t create an
eight-foot monster in Transylvania after all.”
(p. 12)
[Let’s start with the fact the no reasonable author –
editors are a different story – would think it
necessary to establish to an American audience that
Victor Frankenstein is fictional. I want to
concentrate on the notion that fictional Frankenstein,
who was Swiss and did his nefarious experimentation
in Ingolstadt (Bavaria), somehow has a monster running
around in Transylvania. The monster would have to
wander 1400 km – on modern roads, though only 1300 if
he wants to try to just walk over the mountains and
rivers without any benefit of modern structures – to
make it to Transylvania (or more properly, to
Dracula’s castle). That isn’t what the monster wants.
The monster wants to not be alone. Now, I’m sure many
Hollywood movies have gotten this wrong. But there is no
excuse for the authors here.]
▸ “CUNT FEST 2000" (p. 24 box)
[Never mind that it was Cuntfest – as one word – and not
Cunt Fest, but neither Petras nor any editor seemed to
notice that Penn State (short for the Pennsylvania State
University) and Penn (short for the University of
Pennsylvania) cannot be used interchangeably.]
Maybe these aren’t errors, per se, but they show a lack of appreciation for academic examination of topics that border on pop culture.
▸ Philsophy and Star Trek (Georgetown University): The
course asks “Is time travel possible?” “Is Data a person?”
(p. 23)
[For some reason, applied philosophy is definitionally stupid
to the authors. Perhaps because they don’t like the idea of
thinking. Or finding both use for and the limitations of the
great works in philosophy by applying them through the lens of
science fiction posits.]
▸ Seeing Queerly: Queer Theory, Film, and Video (Brown
University): The course asks: “While cinema has typically
circumscribed vision along (heterosexually) normative lines,
can film also empower viewers to see ‘queerly’?” (p. 23)
[For some reason, examining how homosexuals and gay culture are
depicted in film and television is stupid. Not only does this
come off as incredibly bigoted, but it makes the authors seem
like they have an objection to classes taught at better schools
than they (may have) attended.]
There are some moments where the authors’ false outrage serves a purpose.
▸ Noting that the justification for a congressional pay raise soon after the September 11th terrorist attacks was that it was a “national security measure”. (p. 40)
▸ A congressman ordered a statue removed from a building because it would “attract the homeless, ...perverts, and graffiti artists.” (p. 50)
▸ The US Navy taking the position that killing birds is alright because “bird-watchers get more enjoyment spotting a rare bird than they do a common one.” (p. 56)
▸ The Federal government spent $273,000 to combat “Goth” culture in Blue Springs, MO.
[I think this is money well spent.]
▸ “In other words, feediness is the shared information between toputness where toputness
is at a time just prior to inputness.” —U.S. Department of Education (p. 74)
▸ “This document did not concern you. Please erase your initials and initial your erasure.” —U.S. Army personnel department, Fort Baker (p. 75)
▸ A Toyota ad that ran in Jet magazine which read, “Unlike your last boyfriend, it goes to work in the morning.” (p. 101)
▸ Best product warning ever? “Suffocation may cause death”. (p. 138)
And such was the case with this book.
Perhaps it started with a few obvious errors. There could be innumerable one; I honestly don’t know. I do know that the first two that jumped out at me were:
▸ “Students were not told that Dr. Frankenstein was
not a real biologist and that he didn’t create an
eight-foot monster in Transylvania after all.”
(p. 12)
[Let’s start with the fact the no reasonable author –
editors are a different story – would think it
necessary to establish to an American audience that
Victor Frankenstein is fictional. I want to
concentrate on the notion that fictional Frankenstein,
who was Swiss and did his nefarious experimentation
in Ingolstadt (Bavaria), somehow has a monster running
around in Transylvania. The monster would have to
wander 1400 km – on modern roads, though only 1300 if
he wants to try to just walk over the mountains and
rivers without any benefit of modern structures – to
make it to Transylvania (or more properly, to
Dracula’s castle). That isn’t what the monster wants.
The monster wants to not be alone. Now, I’m sure many
Hollywood movies have gotten this wrong. But there is no
excuse for the authors here.]
▸ “CUNT FEST 2000" (p. 24 box)
[Never mind that it was Cuntfest – as one word – and not
Cunt Fest, but neither Petras nor any editor seemed to
notice that Penn State (short for the Pennsylvania State
University) and Penn (short for the University of
Pennsylvania) cannot be used interchangeably.]
Maybe these aren’t errors, per se, but they show a lack of appreciation for academic examination of topics that border on pop culture.
▸ Philsophy and Star Trek (Georgetown University): The
course asks “Is time travel possible?” “Is Data a person?”
(p. 23)
[For some reason, applied philosophy is definitionally stupid
to the authors. Perhaps because they don’t like the idea of
thinking. Or finding both use for and the limitations of the
great works in philosophy by applying them through the lens of
science fiction posits.]
▸ Seeing Queerly: Queer Theory, Film, and Video (Brown
University): The course asks: “While cinema has typically
circumscribed vision along (heterosexually) normative lines,
can film also empower viewers to see ‘queerly’?” (p. 23)
[For some reason, examining how homosexuals and gay culture are
depicted in film and television is stupid. Not only does this
come off as incredibly bigoted, but it makes the authors seem
like they have an objection to classes taught at better schools
than they (may have) attended.]
There are some moments where the authors’ false outrage serves a purpose.
▸ Noting that the justification for a congressional pay raise soon after the September 11th terrorist attacks was that it was a “national security measure”. (p. 40)
▸ A congressman ordered a statue removed from a building because it would “attract the homeless, ...perverts, and graffiti artists.” (p. 50)
▸ The US Navy taking the position that killing birds is alright because “bird-watchers get more enjoyment spotting a rare bird than they do a common one.” (p. 56)
▸ The Federal government spent $273,000 to combat “Goth” culture in Blue Springs, MO.
[I think this is money well spent.]
▸ “In other words, feediness is the shared information between toputness where toputness
is at a time just prior to inputness.” —U.S. Department of Education (p. 74)
▸ “This document did not concern you. Please erase your initials and initial your erasure.” —U.S. Army personnel department, Fort Baker (p. 75)
▸ A Toyota ad that ran in Jet magazine which read, “Unlike your last boyfriend, it goes to work in the morning.” (p. 101)
▸ Best product warning ever? “Suffocation may cause death”. (p. 138)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 4, 2012
Read this book at the gym, and like most chosen for the purpose, it is the kind that can be read a little at a time. The anecdotes are usually a paragraph or two, and are grouped into chapters based on certain subjects such as celebrities, government, and dumb criminals. Not 100% positive that those on the front cover are subjects of stories in the book, but then I don't recognize many of them.
Can't say there were any laugh-out-loud moments when reading, but I don't recall having seen any of the stories in the past, so I found the book to be a nice read for the gym. Light reading to keep the neurons firing and the blood flowing, but not something that requires deep thought or concentration, so those efforts can be concentrated on the exercising.
Can't say there were any laugh-out-loud moments when reading, but I don't recall having seen any of the stories in the past, so I found the book to be a nice read for the gym. Light reading to keep the neurons firing and the blood flowing, but not something that requires deep thought or concentration, so those efforts can be concentrated on the exercising.
March 29, 2009
Great - the same kind of stories that show up in News of the Weird, the Darwin Awards, the Stupidest Things Ever Said series, and so on. Some of these are so incredibly dumb that they wouldn't be believable in fiction. Drawn from all over American culture - the worlds of politics (of course), business, sports, entertainment, the law... example: "U.S. Marines headed for Iraq were boarding a chartered commercial airliner when they were stopped by security. They weren't allowed to board while carrying their knives. No problem... they relinquished their knives and boarded the plane - carrying their M16 rifles and M60 machine guns."
Persuasive evidence that common sense, isn't.
Persuasive evidence that common sense, isn't.
November 24, 2007
This book leaves you wondering "What the hell were they thinking"? Like the high school teacher who brought a banana and a condom to his history class? Come on, teens know way more than we did at our age about sex, why do something this stupid and ultimately pay with your career for doing it? Because we're American, and unfortunately, Americans do some stupid things and this book is an astonishing portrayal of all the stupid things Americans do. Check it out, so you too, can shake your head in disbelief like I did. Crazy I tell ya!
July 7, 2016
This was a fun little read on my lunch break. Great for those who are into books like The Darwin Awards or World Book of Records . I don't know how seriously I take the percentages though as a lot of them are done by popular magazines and not genuine studies. Nevertheless, there are a few interesting tidbits and they are backed up with good resources.
What I think is hilarious (and a little unfortunate) is that this book is ' Unusually Stupid Americans'.
What I think is hilarious (and a little unfortunate) is that this book is ' Unusually Stupid Americans'.
March 10, 2013
This was entertaining, but I agree with the reviewer that some of it was just infuriating and frustrating, for example the part about political corruption. Other parts were kind of sad. No laugh out loud moments, but it held my interest.
May 13, 2008
If you've ever wondered how stupid people really can be, all you have to do is pick up a copy of this book!
It's almost sad that it's so funny, but in the end the humor is well worth it.
It's almost sad that it's so funny, but in the end the humor is well worth it.
March 1, 2016
The foibles of modern Americans. Some were funny, some not so funny.
February 15, 2016
Some real eye-rollers in here. The witty writing also adds some character to what could be a rather discouraging read!
December 25, 2012
Prompts a modest giggle.
March 1, 2022
As there is a lot of anxiety and distress being spread around the world by the current occupant of the White House and this book gives some insight into the kind of Americans who voted him into office and on the understanding that it is better to laugh than to cry....yes, you laugh to keep from crying.
Biden in White House and doing very well from the point of view of everyone in the world but Trump's Republicans.....they still walk among us. Russia started an actual WAR with Ukraine and people are dying and Trump and his following are PRAISING PUTIN.
Biden in White House and doing very well from the point of view of everyone in the world but Trump's Republicans.....they still walk among us. Russia started an actual WAR with Ukraine and people are dying and Trump and his following are PRAISING PUTIN.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews