- Paperback: 172 pages
- Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (Jan 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0312284276
- ISBN-13: 978-0312284275
- Product Dimensions: 21 x 14 x 1.2 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,466,932 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
Product Description
Synopsis
A humorous compilation of errors, inaccuracies, and misunderstandings from the pages of The New York Times encompasses everything from careless oversights and historical goofs to flopped photographs, misidentifications, and whimsical typos. Original.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon.co.uk.
5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
7 reviews
17 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Kill Duck Before Serving: Red Faces at The New York Times
2 Jan 2002
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Hilarious and informative, this collection of corrections from the ever-so-proper New York Times should please anyone who has ever worked in journalism and anyone who either loves or hates The Times. The wry chapter headings -- "Half-Baked," "Sorry, Wrong Number," "Quote, Unquote" and so on -- are a perfect set up for the send up. The book takes its title from a correction published on April 25, 1981: "An article about decorative cooking incorrectly described a presentation of Muscovy duck by Michael Fitoussi, a New York chef. In preparing it, Mr. Fitoussi uses a duck that has been killed." From other entries, you can learn such things as how many bras Ivana Trump buys at a time, the correct definition of a nanometer and how to spell the names of famous artists, politicians and sports figures (and how many times The Times got each of them wrong).
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Amusing? Sometimes. Hilarious? Not Really.
18 May 2003
Format:Paperback
Be sure you buy this book with the right expectations. It's not a collection of uniformly hilarious bungles like the "Anguished English" series. As an earlier reviewer noted, there are a few genuinely funny bloopers mixed with many, many dry errors of fact, number, or spelling. There's an irritating undertone of "Look how we at the great New York Times can laugh at ourselves" here, and it doen't make for entertaining reading.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Some gems, but neither humorous nor useful
21 April 2007
Format:Paperback
There are two ways in which a book such as "Kill Duck Before Serving" can succeed: as a comedy or as a warning. "Kill Duck Before Serving" does neither.
Yes, there are some funny errors in this book (most of which are mentioned in one of the editorial reviews published on this page), but most of the errors are as boring as any corrections page. Consider this one from page 90: "Page 52 of some copies on Saturday was blank." Is that something most people are interested in? Is that funny? It didn't seem so to me.
The book also fails as an exercise in journalistic transparency. No information is given as to why these specific mistakes were chosen to appear in the book. There's no commentary explaining why the errors happened in the first place, or discussion of how errors (such as the erroneous report that Bill Clinton tied up an airport to get his hair cut - I'm sure most Americans still believe this to be the gospel truth) can cause serious damage to an individual's or a corporation's image.
I did enjoy Tom Bloom's drawings, which livened up some of the duller corrections.
I don't particularly recommend this book.
Yes, there are some funny errors in this book (most of which are mentioned in one of the editorial reviews published on this page), but most of the errors are as boring as any corrections page. Consider this one from page 90: "Page 52 of some copies on Saturday was blank." Is that something most people are interested in? Is that funny? It didn't seem so to me.
The book also fails as an exercise in journalistic transparency. No information is given as to why these specific mistakes were chosen to appear in the book. There's no commentary explaining why the errors happened in the first place, or discussion of how errors (such as the erroneous report that Bill Clinton tied up an airport to get his hair cut - I'm sure most Americans still believe this to be the gospel truth) can cause serious damage to an individual's or a corporation's image.
I did enjoy Tom Bloom's drawings, which livened up some of the duller corrections.
I don't particularly recommend this book.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
