Author: Michael Farquhar
Publisher: NationalGeographic
ISBN: 978-142618071

“Finally, as you peruse this collection, just remember: No matter how lousy your day has been, you can be sure that somewhere in time someone else’s was so much worse,” Michael Farquhar pens in the introduction of his book, Bad Days in History: A Gleefully Grim Chronicle of Misfortune, Mayhem, and Misery for Every Day of the Year.

~ What ~
This four-hundred-and-eighty-page paperback is for those who appreciate a sarcastic daily read of past blunders and mistakes humans have made throughout history. After an introduction, each description that covers every day of the year runs from a half page to four pages. Black and white drawings and photographs are sporadically placed on the pages. The ending includes a selected bibliography, photo credits, index, and acknowledgments.

In this book, the negatives, heartbreaks, and disappointments of life are accentuated throughout the centuries, correlating to each day of the year. The topics cover misfortunes, mishaps, and missteps as well as broken relationships, financial pitfalls, and emotional roller coasters that are made light of and mocked.

Our adult son is highly sarcastic, dark, and witty, so when we showed him this book, he immediately was interested in its contents. I like that each day’s topics are so random, jumping from centuries and subjects so they do not get boring. Some of the interesting people mentioned are Anne of Cleves, Richard Burton, Chevy Chase, Eddie Fisher, John Gotti, Herbert Hoover, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Kennedy, Susan Lucci, Babe Ruth, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Oscar Wilde.

Several of the daily reads are about death and dying, so many may not appreciate their morose tone. Others may find the stories unimportant to a specific day in history, especially if it is their birthday. One of the more depressing reads was today’s, May 13th, about the last soldier to die in the Civil War which had ended a month earlier.

The book covers plenty of actors and actresses and their mistakes; I wish it had less of them and contained more historical ones.

If you are down in the dumps and need a pick-me-up daily reminder that life could be worse, this will help you hopefully look toward the future by reading about the past’s often disrespected perspective.

Thanks to National Geographic, Litzky Public Relations, Inc., and Bookpleasures for this complimentary book that I am under no obligation to review.