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The Giant And How He Humbugged America (2012)

by Jim Murphy(Favorite Author)

3.53 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0439691842 (ISBN13: 9780439691840)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Scholastic Press

review 1: Jim Murphy just has a way of writing a very readable book. He's careful to include background information and brief explanations of topics he refers to without disrupting the flow of the story. This particular story is both fascinating and mind-boggling. Not only did the men behind the hoax fool much of the public but they also fooled dozens of acclaimed scientists as well. Of course a good number of those scientists were not archaeologists or experts in the field at all. Those experts that did examine the giant and the ground he was found in expressed doubts as to the giant's authenticity. The story then gets crazier as P.T. Barnum gets involved and instigates the creation of a fake of the fake. However, like many 'crazes' this one died down too as more and more pieces... more of the hoax came to light and people became disillusioned. Of course, it would be nice to say that such things don't happen today, but of course they do, people can and often are still fooled all the time. Murphy explains a few other hoaxes that have occurred over the years at the end of the book. A well-told story and interesting look at the power of belief as well as the power of the media to influence what people see. I appreciated the time Murphy takes at the end to explain his research process and how he decided to write about this topic, great for using in the classroom. Recommended.
review 2: This book has an awesome cover and made me want to read it. The event evoked some memory for me -something I had read in the past. It started off interestingly enough, but lost steam somewhere in the middle, I ended up skimming a lot of the ending. Because I didn't read it word for word, I may have missed a coupe of things that bothered me about the book. One of those things was the lack of explanation, etymology of the word humbug, which most young readers are not going to be familiar with except as an expression used by Scrooge regarding Christmas. It seems to be a key part of the book; I should think a word in the title requires some page time. It also bothered me that the quote on the back cover doesn't get more explanation-again the intended audience of this book may equate the quote with Barnum, who also appears in the book. I didn't catch in my quick reading any reference to the fact it was said by another player in the hoax. Great pictures, and awesome cover=good book for browsing, but not much else. less

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