A “dangerous” bestseller
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‘The Dangerous Book for Boys’ by Conn Iggulden and Hal Iggulden (HarperCollins: 288 pp., $24.95) is a publishing phenomenon in England and now a runaway bestseller in the United States since its publication here a few weeks ago.
It is being hailed as wildly clever and is sure to spawn all kinds of knockoffs. But it also is firmly in the tradition of how-to and outdoorsy books for boys, a genre that has fallen into disuse by an urban population first constrained by feminism and then hooked on electronic entertainment. Notable precursors are the Boy Scouts of America’s ‘Handbook for Boys’ and ‘The American Boy’s Handy Book’ (still available from Dover Editions, a producer of facsimile classics), without which no household with male offspring used to be complete.
An excellent end-of-the-school-year gift, this book is a compendium of the traditional knowledge that the authors think boys are losing. There are entries on the world’s best paper airplane, making invisible ink (urine is apparently very useful), teaching your dog tricks, building a treehouse and a go-cart, playing poker, making a periscope, first aid (if you’re not getting hurt, you’re not playing hard enough), Latin phrases every boy should know, the Ten Commandments, a guide to historical pirate flags (the Jolly Roger was just one of many) and accounts of famous battles with all the gruesome bits left in. The authors’ unapologetic boyishness (there is an entry on how to deal with girls!), coupled with their utter devotion to the idea that a thing worth doing is worth doing well, suggest why it has been so successful.
Parents will be uncomfortable with one or another entry in ‘The Dangerous Book’ (the chapter on ‘Hunting and Cooking a Rabbit’ has drawn a gasp or two), but once they see boys pounce on the book -- it was brilliant, if slightly illogical, to put the word ‘Dangerous’ in the title -- no one can object to the excitement it generates.
Sonja Bolle