The page of Boxsel, Matthijs van , English Reception
Reception
Quotes
An illustrated hodgepodge of ruminations, anecdotes, aphorisms and esoterica, the book attacks its subject obliquely, spinning a theory of stupidity while cataloging its sightings. Of stupidity’s commentators past and present, Mr. Van Boxsel stands out for his exalted view of the phenomenon.
The New York Times
This satirical exploration of the lineaments of human folly is a fascinating and slightly deranged work that would have Pope and Swift sucking happily from their punch bowls.
Literary Review
I picked it up anticipating either a compilation - a sort of Encyclopedia Stupidica - or bathroom-reading entertainment like The Darwin Awards. It is that, but the Encyclopedia is also something much odder. You will not be reading it in a bathroom, either… unless that bathroom is Italo Calvino’s.
Paul Collins in The Believer (10/2003)
No one is intelligent enough to comprehend the depths of their own stupidity, states Matthijs van Boxsel in this engagingly eccentric history. (…) Fairy tales, science fiction, even garden history are haphazardly drawn together in this slightly surreal, often exasperating but consistently enjoyable view of the history of civilisation.
The Guardian
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