Fox Tossing and Other Sports
This new book by Edward Brooke-Hitching looks like a good read (Amazon link), and potentially of interest to WU readers. From the publisher's blurb:
Have you ever wondered what people did for fun throughout history? Edward Brooke-Hitching began to wonder the same thing while flipping through an eighteenth-century German book on hunting, and found a bygone sport in which German nobles launched foxes into the air. This random discovery of a game that slipped through the mainstream historical cracks led him to wonder: how many other sports have been left out of modern history accounts?
It looks like it was released first in the UK with the title Fox Tossing, Octopus Wrestling, and Other Forgotten Sports. But for the US release, the publisher dropped the "Octopus Wrestling" from the title. Why? I think the longer title is better. Perhaps they thought the idea of octopus wrestling was too weird for us Americans. Or perhaps they figured that Americans don't read much, so we need a shorter title.
Comments
One man's entertainment is another man's madness.
Posted by KDP on 11/17/15 at 04:34 PM
Intrigued by the amazon listing I looked up a couple of the odd sports mentioned, including one called Mumble-crow. This "sport" involved clipping a sparrows wings so it can't fly away, setting it in an upturned had and trying to bite it's head off while your hands are tied behind your back. Such a wonderful blend of cruelty, parasites, pain and raw bird heads in your mouth...what's not to love?
Posted by Miles on 11/18/15 at 11:47 AM
I think I'll stick with Calvinball.
Posted by Phideaux on 11/18/15 at 01:49 PM
What with the Detroit Red Wings, perhaps the publisher didn't think doing weird things with octopuses in the name of sports counts as "forgotten" in the USA.
Posted by Richard Bos on 11/20/15 at 10:40 AM
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Category: Sports | Books