How They Choked: Failures, Flops, and Flaws of the Awfully Famous

by Georgia Bragg, Kevin O'Malley (Illustrator)

Overview

Over the course of history, famous people made mistakes that were so monumental they could never escape them, no matter how brilliant their successes! Ferdinand Magellan is credited as the first man to sail around the world . . . but he only actually made it halfway. His terrible treatment of everyone he met cut his life journey short. Queen Isabella of Spain is remembered for financing Columbus’s expeditions—and for creating the Spanish Inquisition. J. Bruce Ismay commissioned the unsinkable marvel of the sea, the Titanic—and then jumped the line of women and children to escape death on a lifeboat. Readers will be fascinated well past the final curtain and will empathize with the flawed humanity of these achievers.

Famous successful “failures” include:

Marco Polo • Queen Isabella of Spain • King Montezuma II • Anne Boleyn • Ferdinand Magellan • Isaac Newton • Benedict Arnold • George Armstrong Custer • Vincent Van Gogh • Susan B. Anthony • Thomas Alva Edison • J. Bruce Ismay • Amelia M. Earhart • Joseph Jefferson Jackson (“Shoeless Joe”)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802734884
Publisher:	Walker & Company
Publication date:	05/06/2014
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	1,131,422
Product dimensions:	7.30(w) x 10.10(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

GEORGIA BRAGG is the author of How They Croaked as well as Matisse on the Loose, a middle-grade novel. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, two children, and two cats.

www.georgiabragg.com

KEVIN O'MALLEY is the co-author and illustrator of the popular Miss Malarkey series, as well as the New York Times bestseller Gimme Cracked Corn and I Will Share and many other books for children. He lives in Maryland.

www.booksbyomalley.com

Editorial Reviews

06/16/2014
Like Bragg and O’Malley’s How They Croaked (2011), this lightly illustrated book offers caustically humorous insights into history—this time, via 14 famous figures who failed spectacularly at something. Subjects include Custer (“After Custer died, the Indian women found his corpse and bored a hole in his eardrums because George Armstrong Custer was a man who never listened”) Earhart (“the bad odds about gravity caught up with her”), and Van Gogh (“This time his family got their wish: Vincent finally went into an insane asylum”). Irresistible entertainment (and solid information) for readers with a tendency toward schadenfreude. Ages 10–14. Author’s agent: Edward Necarsulmer IV, Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary Agency. Illustrator’s agent: Melissa Turk. (May)

Publishers Weekly

2014-03-31
Bragg's follow-up to How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous (2011) reveals the failures of 14 notables from history. Bragg's cheeky humor is on display with chapter titles like "Till Beheading Do Us Part" for Anne Boleyn, "The Law's in Town" for Isaac Newton, and "Stinker, Traitor, Soldier, Spy" for Benedict Arnold. She describes Gen. Custer as "a peacock with a pistol" and reveals that Ferdinand Magellan, credited as the first man to sail around the world, actually only made it halfway. Queen Isabella of Spain is remembered for financing Columbus' expeditions, but she also started the Spanish Inquisition. J. Bruce Ismay commissioned the "unsinkable" Titanic but then jumped to the front of the women-and-children lifeboat line to save his own skin when an iceberg proved the ship sinkable. Beneath Bragg's flippant tone is an insightful, informative narrative explaining how these individuals earned a place in history, including both their accomplishments and embarrassing and sometimes-tragic failures. Between each chapter is a page or two of information related to the work of those profiled and their times. O'Malley's cartoon illustrations are a great complement to Bragg's informal, conversational style. Meaty backmatter includes seven pages of audience-appropriate suggestions for further reading and surfing, keyed by fail-er. Readers will be entertained and fascinated by the flawed humanity depicted within. (notes, sources, index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews

“An insightful, informative narrative explaining how these individuals earned a place in history, including both their accomplishments and embarrassing and sometimes-tragic failures . . . Readers will be entertained and fascinated by the flawed humanity depicted within.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Written in a chatty style, full of wit and laugh-out-loud moments, this charmingly irreverent delivery of history is not only entertaining but packed full of lessons to be learned.” —School Library Journal

“The snarkily entertaining narratives are illustrated with caricatures of each subject. For better or worse, subjects are rarely as one-dimensional as most biographies paint them, and this book proves that nobody is perfect.” —Booklist

“A delightfully snarky look at the remarkable mistakes of a few of history's famous figures . . . If you have not already added How They Croaked to your collection, buy both it and How They Choked immediately. Read it yourself, put it on display--it will get passed around with (disgust) delight.” —VOYA

“Offers caustically humorous insights into history . . . Irresistible entertainment (and solid information) for readers.” —Publishers Weekly

“A delightfully informative, humorous, and honest look at some of history's well-known characters.” —Library Media Connection

From the Publisher

04/01/2014
Gr 5 Up—In this follow-up to How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous (Walker, 2011), Bragg pokes fun, plays up, and revels in the mistakes of 14 famous figures because "There's nothing better than reading about how someone else messed up." Some of the people have character flaws, others made bad decisions and one, Susan B. Anthony, just didn't live to see her major life goal achieved. The majority of the individuals are Western men with recognizable names, such as Marco Polo and Thomas Alva Edison, who will be remembered for more than their accomplishments once Bragg is done with them. She doesn't pull any punches when describing Henry VIII's indiscretions in Anne Boleyn's chapter, Vincent Van Gogh's complete lack of friends, or J. Bruce Ismay's cowardice on the Titanic, which puts a matte of humanity on the usually shiny package of history. O'Malley's fabulous caricature-like illustrations perfectly accentuate the text and spice up the layout. Written in a chatty style, full of wit and laugh-out-loud moments, this charmingly irreverent delivery of history is not only entertaining but packed full of lessons to be learned.—Heather Acerro, Rochester Public Library, MN

School Library Journal