Peak bathroom reading. Do recommend. ( )

I've had this book for years and finally got around to reading it. Loved it! It's hilarious and extremely informative. Very funny comics about the origin of commonplace items like traffic lights, bicycles, barbed wire, stamps, toothbrushes, and so forth. How they were discovered or invented, including the *uncredited* people (often women or POC) who originally did the work and have gone unsung. The book is divided into sections (The Office, The Bathroom, The Kitchen, etc) to organize the objects. I was chuckling all throughout at the author/illlustrator's humor--a lot of breaking of the fourth wall to have a character comment on a product ("Have you noticed how we all go bonkers for anything our royal family does?" about TEA being adopted after the king started drinking it), or a bunch of people forming a Failed Inventors Club for failing to patent and profit from their own inventions. They also often acknowledge the racism or misogyny that prevented an inventor's success. (The book is very progressive in admitting the bitter truths of history.) Also funny is when the author is a character in his own comics, drawing himself hard at work ("because everybody wants more paperclip stories", or, "Probably needs more vacuum cleaner jokes") and also slipping in a comment about what a raw deal women of the time got, etc. The bibliography is extensive, showing his research; he indicates when he directly quotes someone instead of the fictionalized (and funny) dialogue. I also appreciated that it has numbered pages and an index, so you can refer to particular topics when you want to refresh your knowledge, as I've already done a couple of times since reading it...I'm such a nerd... Did I mention that the artwork is phenomenal? I love this style of ink drawings, super realistic but comical. *Chef's kiss.* ( )

If you’ve ever wondered about the origins of some of the various objects you regularly use, then this book may assuage your curiosity. With humor and wit and clever illustrations, Andy Warner imparts his take on such items as pencils, artificial sweeteners, post-it notes, instant ramen, and my favorite, kitty litter, which began as clay pellets for nesting hens. When he couldn’t sell it for hens or cats, inventor Ed Lowe gave it away, free for the asking, in local stores. It didn’t take along before pet owners were clamoring to buy the stuff, and sales have risen to around $12 billion a year. All these facts and so much more are available in this delightful book. ( )

Surprisingly entertaining exploration and reminder of how damn crafty and inventive humans are. Women and minorities got the short end of the historical stick ! More broadly, history and business is full of people who didn't or couldn't patent their ideas and get credit for then. The one that stood out to me the most was the story about Monopoly—laughably unbelievable. ( )

Disappointing. By pretty much sticking to a strict 3-page format for each object, Warner ends up giving as much attention to an object with little or no interesting history as those with epic tales behind them. And with so many short stories there is quite a lot of repetition with inventors either getting totally screwed over or becoming insanely rich. I probably would have liked this better if, instead of reading it all in one shot, I had doled out a story a day (it is dedicated to Uncle John after all, of [b:Uncle John's Bathroom Reader|312679|Uncle John's Bathroom Reader (Uncle John's Bathroom Reader, #1)|Bathroom Readers' Institute|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388597705s/312679.jpg|303582] I assume).

I would certainly be interested in seeing Warner tackle a long-form graphic history sometime in the future. ( )