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'A Steroid Hit the Earth is full of linguistic delights and treasures. Fantastic.' David Crystal
Product Description
'A Steroid Hit The Earth' is a catalogue of errors, omissions, mistakes and other disasters, ranging from the straight typo or the ambiguous statement to the downright bizarre. Each demonstrates a sub-editor or proofreader taking their eye off the ball, to the delight of millions, every single example preserving the humble misprint as a perpetual source of 'schadenfreude'. From the holy typo of 1631, when Barker and Lucas' 'Wicked Bible' exhorted people to commit adultery by omitting a crucial 'not' from the seventh commandment, 'A Steroid Hit The Earth' reaches back in time to the days before modern printing and our own spell-check obsessed age. It is a joyous and irreverent paean to gaffes of all sorts that have caused confusion, consternation and outright offence among readers, incorporating confessions from insiders - retired newspapermen and typesetters - for the inside story on both what was and what might have been. A highly entertaining and deeply resonant book, appealing to the 'there but for the grace of...' feeling in all of us. It will be proof-read six times before publication.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a nice little hardback with lots of pages, so it feels 'dense' and heavy, unlike some of the tenuous 'gift' books you see all over the place these days.
There are plenty of pages to keep you amused, though I have to admit I read it all in one sitting. And I laughed out loud for much of that time. There are some very funny misprints. And some that I didn't find at all funny, but that's par for the course.
It's divided into sections, with some editorial stuff, but thankfully not too much.
My favourite bit is the section on corrections, some of which are funnier than the misprints were to start with.
My reservation with this book is that unlike, say, the 'Boobs' series of books, the misprints in here are not photographs of the original cuttings, just the misprints typed out. To me that takes something away, makes it seem less authentic. There's always the possibility that they're embellished, or even made up. Probably not of course, but there's nothing like seeing the original.
And I have seen some of these misprints before in other books.
So, it's not the best of its type, but it is pretty good. And it's so nicely printed and packaged that it will inevitably make a great stocking filler, and one that's better than most gift books of this ilk.
There are plenty of pages to keep you amused, though I have to admit I read it all in one sitting. And I laughed out loud for much of that time. There are some very funny misprints. And some that I didn't find at all funny, but that's par for the course.
It's divided into sections, with some editorial stuff, but thankfully not too much.
My favourite bit is the section on corrections, some of which are funnier than the misprints were to start with.
My reservation with this book is that unlike, say, the 'Boobs' series of books, the misprints in here are not photographs of the original cuttings, just the misprints typed out. To me that takes something away, makes it seem less authentic. There's always the possibility that they're embellished, or even made up. Probably not of course, but there's nothing like seeing the original.
And I have seen some of these misprints before in other books.
So, it's not the best of its type, but it is pretty good. And it's so nicely printed and packaged that it will inevitably make a great stocking filler, and one that's better than most gift books of this ilk.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Humorous books such as this are either brilliant or fall flat. This one is brilliant. It doesn't include my two favourite errors - the notorious misprint from the Times in 1882 or the early sixties headline "Meat Shortage - MP's Attack Minister" but it contains enough mistakes to keep the reader laughing from first page to last.
Many mistakes consist of missing a letter from a word thus making the finished piece nonsensical. These include firemen turning their noses (hoses), soldiers firing rubber pullets (bullets) and the police chasing a "getaway cat"(car) for more than forty miles. Others are inadvertent constructions such as the accident caused "as the dead man was crossing the intersection" which reminded me of the accurate report of a similar accident in a local newspaper in which the dead man's last words before crossing were "I think we can make it". Some could cause offence if they weren't so amusing including the widow who "visited the cemetery where her husband was buried on a number of occasions." On the other hand in 1838 the Rev. J W Morris was not amused when accosted by various ladies for having been reported as having proposed a tax on wives (wines).
Mistakes in newspapers are to be expected, more so in the days of hot print than now when spell checking computers correct all errors automatically - don't they? Not where grammar is concerned. The apostrophe seems to fool people most of the time, especially where it and it's are concerned. Books should be exempt from errors although Sir Henry H Johnston made it to print with, "The Nolotic race is remarkable for the disproportionately long legs of their men and women. They extend on the eastern side of the Nile right down into the Uganda Protectorate."
Any editor worth their salt will apologise immediately a mistake occurs as did the Independent when it called the Irish premier Charles Haughey "a man of great rudeness" instead of "a man of great shrewdness". The Guardian, known from my time at University as the Garodian and by Private Eye as the Grauniad, once reported "a depression will mope across Southern England" - presumably they meant "move" but you can never tell with the Guardian. The importance of accuracy should never be underestimated as shown by the following note in the Protestant Telegraph. "In some of our copies the article The Power of the Papacy described the Pope as "His Satanic Majesty" this should read "the Roman Antichrist". Glad we cleared that one up.
Sub editors have a very difficult job coming up with headlines while working under pressure so the famous "MaCarthur Flies Back to Front" is understandable while strictly speaking "Man Found Dead in Graveyard" should be considered unremarkable. Others, such as, "No water - so firemen improvised","Iraqi head seeks arms" and "Prostitutes Appeal to Pope" exercise the imagination. The only way to avoid errors is a second pair of eyes. The broadcaster Stuart Hall realised this when he named his travel company Stuart Hall International Travel. He laughs about it now!! A funny book which should amuse without offence and brighten up the darkest day with page after page of laughs. Five stars.
Many mistakes consist of missing a letter from a word thus making the finished piece nonsensical. These include firemen turning their noses (hoses), soldiers firing rubber pullets (bullets) and the police chasing a "getaway cat"(car) for more than forty miles. Others are inadvertent constructions such as the accident caused "as the dead man was crossing the intersection" which reminded me of the accurate report of a similar accident in a local newspaper in which the dead man's last words before crossing were "I think we can make it". Some could cause offence if they weren't so amusing including the widow who "visited the cemetery where her husband was buried on a number of occasions." On the other hand in 1838 the Rev. J W Morris was not amused when accosted by various ladies for having been reported as having proposed a tax on wives (wines).
Mistakes in newspapers are to be expected, more so in the days of hot print than now when spell checking computers correct all errors automatically - don't they? Not where grammar is concerned. The apostrophe seems to fool people most of the time, especially where it and it's are concerned. Books should be exempt from errors although Sir Henry H Johnston made it to print with, "The Nolotic race is remarkable for the disproportionately long legs of their men and women. They extend on the eastern side of the Nile right down into the Uganda Protectorate."
Any editor worth their salt will apologise immediately a mistake occurs as did the Independent when it called the Irish premier Charles Haughey "a man of great rudeness" instead of "a man of great shrewdness". The Guardian, known from my time at University as the Garodian and by Private Eye as the Grauniad, once reported "a depression will mope across Southern England" - presumably they meant "move" but you can never tell with the Guardian. The importance of accuracy should never be underestimated as shown by the following note in the Protestant Telegraph. "In some of our copies the article The Power of the Papacy described the Pope as "His Satanic Majesty" this should read "the Roman Antichrist". Glad we cleared that one up.
Sub editors have a very difficult job coming up with headlines while working under pressure so the famous "MaCarthur Flies Back to Front" is understandable while strictly speaking "Man Found Dead in Graveyard" should be considered unremarkable. Others, such as, "No water - so firemen improvised","Iraqi head seeks arms" and "Prostitutes Appeal to Pope" exercise the imagination. The only way to avoid errors is a second pair of eyes. The broadcaster Stuart Hall realised this when he named his travel company Stuart Hall International Travel. He laughs about it now!! A funny book which should amuse without offence and brighten up the darkest day with page after page of laughs. Five stars.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
After the success of "the Ants are my friends" , this is another fun book by Martin Toseland - I pity anyone who ever has to send any form of written communication to Martin ,they must have to check , check and double check all spellings...
This is a great book showing amongst other things, the pitfalls of relying on spell check , just because the word is spelt correctly, doesn't mean it makes sense, and this book proves in spades!! .Amazing misprints from the major broadsheets as well as local papers.
Another great present for the person who has everything.
This is a great book showing amongst other things, the pitfalls of relying on spell check , just because the word is spelt correctly, doesn't mean it makes sense, and this book proves in spades!! .Amazing misprints from the major broadsheets as well as local papers.
Another great present for the person who has everything.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A Steroid Hit the Earfth
I bought this for my 10 year old grandson who loves daft jokes as much as I do. It was a great success and we spent a lot of time giggling over the contents. Read more
Published 3 months ago by K. Clayden
My copy has vanished. Please return
Editors and writers world over can rejoice: this book proves that someone else, in some other office, has made a bigger print gaff than them. Read more
Published on 27 Jun 2009 by C. Young
A Steroid Hit The Earth
Saw this book reviewed in a newspaper. Started laughing and ended up reading sections to all who were there. Read more
Published on 23 Nov 2008 by Sarah S.
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