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Overrated: The 50 Most Overhyped Things in History
A cantankerous collection of the 50 most overhyped people, places and things in the world
What do horoscopes, hemlock, Star Trek , the Oscars, and sliced bread have in common? They're all overrated-and systematically skewered in this hilariously opinionated takedown of all things overhyped.
Discover the most overrated...
Animal
Movie
Vegetable
Sport
News item
Wonder of the world
Tourist attraction
Way to die
Readers who are in no mood to celebrate Ulysses , doves, baby boomers, the curse of Tutankhamen, and many other icons of culture and lore will delight in this score-settling and take-no-prisoners volume.
What do horoscopes, hemlock, Star Trek , the Oscars, and sliced bread have in common? They're all overrated-and systematically skewered in this hilariously opinionated takedown of all things overhyped.
Discover the most overrated...
Animal
Movie
Vegetable
Sport
News item
Wonder of the world
Tourist attraction
Way to die
Readers who are in no mood to celebrate Ulysses , doves, baby boomers, the curse of Tutankhamen, and many other icons of culture and lore will delight in this score-settling and take-no-prisoners volume.
240 pages, Paperback
First published May 26, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
April 29, 2015
A sarcastic Australian man takes down what he feels are the fifty most overrated things in history. This is good, because he doesn't really choose these based on his opinion, but instead on factual information.
I learned some new things, which I always enjoy doing. He makes some really good points. See my status updates for examples.
He is a bit touchy - you get the sense that he's had to battle critics for his judgments of what is relevant and what is not, but overall he's pretty funny and smart.
I learned some new things, which I always enjoy doing. He makes some really good points. See my status updates for examples.
He is a bit touchy - you get the sense that he's had to battle critics for his judgments of what is relevant and what is not, but overall he's pretty funny and smart.
May 4, 2019
Clever writing & witty humor.
Interesting take on some things that have been accepted as amazing.
He made a few good points.
And I learned a few things like there was no brontosaurus, and Bayer sold heroin over the counter before they invented aspirin as well as many other trivial facts. Who knew!
My fave was the chapter about princesses. I kept shaking my head w/ a smile in agreement as I read.
Interesting take on some things that have been accepted as amazing.
He made a few good points.
And I learned a few things like there was no brontosaurus, and Bayer sold heroin over the counter before they invented aspirin as well as many other trivial facts. Who knew!
My fave was the chapter about princesses. I kept shaking my head w/ a smile in agreement as I read.
February 9, 2011
This book is really funny and will make you really reconsider things people hold value in. It's humorous how you never think of some of the things as overrated (like diamonds) and it's good to step out of what you're used to holding valuable and looking at how ridiculous some of them are, in the funniest way.
April 25, 2012
Most of the "overrated" items were pretty good, there were a few that were kinda cheesy, but overall a good entertaining read!
uncompleted
May 22, 2024I forgot I tried to read this one before and lost interest in it at about the same place.
Nothing in particularly wrong here, just the authors opinions don't interest me and I feel "list" books like this are kind of done for me.
Nothing in particularly wrong here, just the authors opinions don't interest me and I feel "list" books like this are kind of done for me.
October 3, 2017
Pure fun. Short chapters explaining why The Beatles, The Sixties and other "important" matters are simply overrated.
March 19, 2018
great book about overrated stuff!
March 15, 2020
I really enjoyed reading this! It gave me lots of new information.
August 1, 2012
I thought to myself, self, wouldn't it be humourous if you were to write a review of this book and claim that this book is overrated? Would that be ironic? I think it might.
As I chuckled to myself I realized that in order for something to be overrated it has to be rated highly by a lot of people. I'm too unmotivated to look at how well this particular book has sold, especially for a joke that, in retrospect, is not really all that funny after all.
This is a quick, fun read. Mark Juddery gives some interesting facts and writes in an easy and conversational style. You might not agree with all of his arguments, but he certainly makes a good case for them.
I still think Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts club, while overrated, is not the most overrated album. That distinction probably belongs to Nirvana's Nevermind or some pop-synth band that I'd rather not have heard of.
As I chuckled to myself I realized that in order for something to be overrated it has to be rated highly by a lot of people. I'm too unmotivated to look at how well this particular book has sold, especially for a joke that, in retrospect, is not really all that funny after all.
This is a quick, fun read. Mark Juddery gives some interesting facts and writes in an easy and conversational style. You might not agree with all of his arguments, but he certainly makes a good case for them.
I still think Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts club, while overrated, is not the most overrated album. That distinction probably belongs to Nirvana's Nevermind or some pop-synth band that I'd rather not have heard of.
July 4, 2011
I wish I could give it a 2.5!
I didn't know that brontosauruses weren't a real species of dinosaur, which kind of bummed me out. I agree that surely there are better inventions than sliced bread and I think diamonds are kind of a joke. I'm also not a big fan of baseball.
I didn't like that Mr. Juddery calls statistics overrated and then uses them in quite a few of his entries....
I didn't know that brontosauruses weren't a real species of dinosaur, which kind of bummed me out. I agree that surely there are better inventions than sliced bread and I think diamonds are kind of a joke. I'm also not a big fan of baseball.
I didn't like that Mr. Juddery calls statistics overrated and then uses them in quite a few of his entries....
December 14, 2010
Loved this!
July 5, 2012
Great rant !!
October 8, 2012
Interesting read but I wondered how the author chose these. No bio in the book so I just assumed it was some guys random list.
May 31, 2015
The type of trivia I love - trivia with similarities. Super entertaining.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews