( 2 reviews )
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Posted: Mar 27 2009
Twilight. The Twilight Zone. The X-Files. The Outer Limits. We all have this bizarre taste for the macabre, the unusual, the offbeat, and the downright creepy. That is why we gravitate towards things like Ripley's "Believe it or not." Although not as journalistic as Charles Fort's earlier The Book of the Damned: The Collected Works of Charles Fort, Ripley does his homework. Also, Ripley's presentation surpasses Fort's because of the illustrations. Of course they are not as good as actual images, which nowadays can be photo-shopped, but they add a visual impact that enhances the curiosities. This bookw as written in the late 1920s--coincidentally the era of both Babbitt and Lovecraft--and there are some cultural bigotries in the text. Take them for what they are. Even so, it is great to see this book in print. It gives you an intellectual sugar rush. There are none of the deep ideas of a Plato or a Shakespeare, but is is relaxing diversion. Take this book for what it is--a mixture of Babbitt and Lovecraft.
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Posted: Nov 29 2004
This is a reissue of the very first Ripley's Believe or Not published in 1929. If you've read Ripley's before you know the format. Robert Ripley was a world traveler and searched for the odd, the bizarre and the horrible but true. Now, be warned Ripely happilly admitted to some attitutes about other cultures and religions that would get your face slapped or a pink slip today. If you can't take it buy one of the newer bowlderdized verisons.
