Review: Heroes and Jerks: The Best and Worst Who Ever Lived by Ed Daly

Posted August 4, 2020 by Stephanie in Uncategorized / 8 Comments

Title: Heroes and Jerks: The Best and Worst Who Ever Lived
Author: Ed Daly
Publication:May 23rd 2020
Genre: Nonfiction, History
Purchase it on: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Rating: 4/5

Of the 113 billion people who have lived on Earth, an elite few stand out as particularly heroic or especially awful—those who have had a lasting impact on humankind. Perhaps it was for creating a vaccine that saved civilizations, or conversely, causing a genocide that destroyed generations. Perhaps it was was for inventing denim jeans (hero) or writing the song “We Built This City” (most definitely a jerk).This book examines the best and worst over time, those who have most influenced the world as we know it. From two million B.C. to 2019 – readers will laugh, learn, and time-hop their way through human history. Each hero and jerk is explained in quick, easily digestible Top 10 Lists. From world leaders to Hollywood actors to even a ten-year-old student, each entry is infused with humor, heart, and a modern approach to learning history. So sit back and enjoy the definitive ranking of human existence—Heroes and Jerks.

When I first found out about this book I knew right away it would be my kind of thing, obviously. Top ten lists that go from very early ancient history to modern times listing the heroes and jerks of that time? YES PLEASE! Also, it had small illustrations that were pretty cool to look at so yes you can say that I was definitely hooked.

Along with the top ten lists there were facts about what the hero or jerk did to be in said top ten so it was also a really fascinating book to read. Some figures in history I expected to be in the hero or jerk list so it was fun to anticipate them. Of course there were some that I hadn’t even heard about so that made it even more interesting to learn about these people.

Another thing that intrigued me was some historical figures could be both in the hero AND jerk department because they did some good things that helped mankind somewhat along but also were complete assholes in the meantime (Thomas Edison I’m looking at you!).

At over 580 pages Heroes and Jerks is a pretty chunky book (it does go over the whole of human history so of course it’s a pretty large book) but I can say that the size of it is completely worth reading. It was all very informative yet fun and so hilarious. I laughed out loud a few times even! This has definitely turned into a favorite of mine now. I loved this book.

About the author:

Ed Daly has worked as a pizza chef, a dishwasher, a busboy who got caught eating scraps off someone’s plate, an international shipping company analyst, a Wall Street bond salesman, Mr. Mom, and a published author. He is the world’s foremost expert on cereal and the movie Teen Wolf. Ed lives in New Jersey with his wife and two sons.

 

8 responses to “Review: Heroes and Jerks: The Best and Worst Who Ever Lived by Ed Daly

  1. Ivan Wanat Martin

    Brilliant. Of Caesar Cardini:

    “Salad is terrible. People pretend to love it but, really, the best salads are just the ones that make you the least sad. There is one exception: the Caesar salad.”

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