The Clumsiest People in Europe: A Bad-Tempered Guide To The World

(Paperback)

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Description

In the middle of the 1800s, Mrs Favell Lee Mortimer set out to write an ambitious guide to all the nations on Earth.There were just three problems: She had never set foot outside Shropshire. She was horribly misinformed about virtually every topic she turned her attention to. And she was prejudiced against foreigners. The result was an unintentionally hilarious masterpiece: 'The French like being smart but are not very clean.' 'The Japanese are very polite people - much politer than the Chinese - but very proud.' 'The Scotch will not take much trouble to please strangers.' In The Clumsiest People in Europe, Todd Pruzan has gathered together a selection of Mrs Mortimer's finest moments, celebrating the woman who turned ignorance into an art form.

Reviews

Politically incorrect doesn't begin to cover it. Dads of a certain age will adore it. * Scotland on Sunday *
... extraordinary ... A bizarre torrent of random information tempered by sweeping generalizations, unashamed cultural stereotyping and an undercurrent of scorn, this book gives a very unusual and rather horrifying insight into the Victorian world view. * Good Book Guide *
... a real collection of outrageously ill-informed writings... you have to admire the nerve of the publishers, as many of Mrs Mortimer's comments, to modern sensibilities, are very, very dubious, to say the least. * Sunday Telegraph *
... Mrs Mortimer's outrageous and gloriously politically incorrect vignettes have been collected in one entertaining volume ... * Daily Mail *

Author Bio

Todd Pruzan is a senior editor at the business magazine Conde Nast Portfolio and has been an editor and writer at several other magazines. He was born in Washington, D.C., and lives in New York with his wife and daughter.