Scouts in Bondage: And Other Violations of Literary Propriety: Michael Bell

To start, let me say that I am amused by the fact that the amount of text in this review is greater than the amount of text in the book I’m reviewing. It’s true. Let me now say that that should in no way discourage you from seeking out this little book, as it will enrich your mind and – yea! – your very soul! Well, it will if you have the same dry, sick sense of humor that I have. Hurrah for intellectualism mixed with low-brow cheap jokes!

Scouts in Bondage is simply a collection of old book covers that range from being a little silly to downright hilarious. Often because of naughty double entendres or words that have a very different meaning now than eighty years ago, Scouts gives you good giggles - but not necessarily stupid ones. Not all the jokes are as easy as the book titled Invisible Dick. There were some I had to look at two or three times to get the joke, and a few that I would have missed entirely had I not lived in London for a year.

Some are quite raunchy, so please read this first before giving it to your librarian aunt for Christmas. Unless, of course, she’s the kind of librarian aunt who would appreciate being introduced to The Day Amanda Came.

Several of the books are amusing not because you could take the title to mean something else, but because the title, even the way the author intended, is inherently ridiculous. Don’t you want to get your hands on A Book of Blank Maps?

I do have two complaints, only one of which is legitimate. The back of the book reads “Over forty-five facsimile covers of a hilarious selection of books that graced publishers’ catalogues prior to WWII.” Inside, however, there are a number of books dated from the 1950s to the 1970s. For a book with such little actual text, it’s irritating to have the scant text be inaccurate. (Unless, of course, it’s irony that went over my head.)

My other complaint is that because these are obscure, out of print and most likely unfindable books, I will never know what is contained within Cookery for the Middle Classes. Alas!

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Hardcover: 96 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (October 2, 2007)
ISBN-10: 1416549234
ISBN-13: 978-1416549239
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