| Author: |
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Mrs. Mortimer & Todd Pruzan
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| Title: |
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The Clumsiest People in Europe |
| Moochable copies: |
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No copies available |
| Topics: |
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| Published in: |
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English |
| Binding: |
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Paperback |
| Pages: |
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198 |
| Date: |
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2005 |
| ISBN: |
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0739462113 |
| Publisher: |
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Bloomsbury Press |
| Weight: |
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0.4 pounds |
| Size: |
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5.4 x 8.1 x 0.6 inches |
| Previous givers: |
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1 Ann (USA: MD) |
| Previous moochers: |
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1 lac (USA: MA) |
| Wishlists: |
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| Description: |
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Product Description
Sweden is full of robbers, Germans are unclean and Spaniards are cruel. Those nasty generalizations are culled from a series of 19th century children's guides to the world by Favell Lee Mortimer.
Todd Pruzan, the author of The Clumsiest People in Europe, a new book that compiles Mrs. Mortimer's works, says he couldn't believe his eyes when he first read them. "It was almost like a snapshot of Victorian prejudice made available for anyone to come find," he tells Melissa Block.
Friends often ask Pruzan what his book is about. "Usually I tell them that it's a collection of very nasty Victorian children's writing about geography, written by somebody who didn't get out very much," he says. Indeed Mrs. Mortimer rarely traveled outside her native England.
Here's a sampling of the cultural slurs relayed by Mrs. Mortimer:
On Poland: "You may go a great way without seeing anything pretty."
On Burma: "The Burmese are very deceitful and tell lies on every occasion. Indeed, they are not ashamed of their falsehoods."
And on her native country: "England, what country do you love best? Your own country. I know you do. Every child loves his own country best."
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| URL: |
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http://bookmooch.com/0739462113 |
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