The Book of Fun An Illustrated History of Having a Good Time

by Frushtick, Russ; Ross, Sonny; McElroy, Justin

• ISBN13: 9780762480487
• ISBN10: 0762480483
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2022-06-14
• Publisher: Running Press Adult

Summary

Dive into this vibrantly illustrated history of everything humans have invented to entertain ourselves, from Chess and Nintendo to Drag Queen Story Hour and Burning Man.

In The Book of Fun, Polygon co-founder Russ Frushtick divulges the hidden backstories and fascinating facts about your favorite video games, theme parks, festivals, sports, and more. With 80+ digestible, entertaining entries, it's not just fodder for your next dinner party -- you might also discover your next great pastime, be it jousting, stunt acting, cheese rolling, or Swedish Bunny Hopping.

For fans of pop-history, pop-science, and the many things mankind has invented to waste time, The Book of Fun explores:

• Board Games: The world's oldest tabletop games (Senet, Go, Chess) and its most enduringly popular (Monopoly, Dungeons & Dragons, Settlers of Catan)
• Toys: The history of your favorite playthings, like Barbie, Beanie Babies, Slinky, Furby, and LEGO
• Video Games: The console wars of the '90s, the birth of game streaming, and unexpected Pokémon Go consequences
• Theme Parks: Stories behind Coney Island's Cyclone, Disneyland's opening-day woes, and the bizarre parks built in a nuclear power plant and a Soviet bunker
• Sports: The most fascinating athletic endeavors across the globe, from gladiatorial battles to Lucha Libre, pumpkin boat racing, and sumo wrestling
• Stunts: Harry Houdini, Evel Knievel, Jackie Chan, and the incredible stunt artists you may not know
• Festivals: From Carnival celebrations around the world to the stories of Woodstock, Burning Man, and a Spanish baby-jumping festival
• Dressing Up: The origins of jesters, Halloween, cosplay, drag queen style, and more
• Roadside Attractions: Wacky spectacles like the 65-foot-tall Lucy the Elephant in New Jersey, the Mystery Hole in West Virginia, and the Cabazon Dinosaurs in California

Author Biography

Russ Frushtick is the co-founder of Vox Media’s games vertical Polygon. He has covered video games and technology for over a decade, writing for The New York Times, Edge Magazine and The Verge. 

Sonny Ross is a freelance Illustrator based in the UK whose clients include The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Google, Polygon, and many others. 

Table of Contents

Table of Contents:
Foreword by Justin McElroy
Introduction: Welcome to the History of Fun
BOARD GAMES

• Excavating the Oldest Board Games
• Go and Chess
• Monopoly
• The Great Monopoly Heist
• Dungeons & Dragons
• Silly Creatures in D&D History
• Catan
• Catain Starting to Feel Stale?

TOYS

• Ancient Toys
• Mini-Knights
• How Dolls Evolved from Corn
• China Dolls
• The Rise of Barbie
• Barbie Takes Off
• Rubik’s Cube
• The Slinky
• Early Building Blocks
• Hello LEGO
• From Teddy Bears to Beanie Babies
• Water Guns
• Toy Robots
• Uh-oh, they’re getting smarter . . .
• The Furby Phenomenon

VIDEO GAMES

• How Nuclear Power and Tennis Launched the Video Game Empire
• The Great Video Game Crash of 1983
• Nintendo to the Rescue
• The ’90s Console Wars
• GoldenEye’s Hospital Visit
• How World of Warcraft Prepared Us for a Pandemic
• Unexpected Pokémon Go Consequences
• The Birth of Game Streaming
• The Secrets of Video Game Development

THEME PARKS

• The World’s Oldest Amusement Park
• The First Roller Coasters
• The Early Days of Coney Island
• Luna Park and the Cyclone
• Disneyland’s Opening Day Disaster
• The Republic of Children
• Sanrio Puroland
• Soviet Bunker Park
• The Park Built in a Nuclear Power Plant

SPORTS

• The Gladiatorial Games
• Medieval Jousts
• Sumo Wrestling
• The Life of a Sumo Wrestler
• Origins of Soccer
• Cheese Rolling
• Lucha Libre
• Kaiju Big Battel
• Swedish Bunny Hopping
• The Windsor Pumpkin Regatta

STUNTS

• The Birth of the Daredevil
• Harry Houdini and the Art of Escape
• The Uninsurable Man: Evel Knievel
• Robbie Knievel Jumps the Grand Canyon
• Early Skydiving
• Skydiving from the Stratosphere
• The Father of Movie Stunts: Buster Keaton
• Helen Gibson
• Annie Edson Taylor
• Jackie Chan Shouldn’t Be Alive

FESTIVALS

• The Day of the Dead
• La Tomatina
• Behold Spain’s Baby-Jumping Festival
• The Origins of Carnival
• Carnivals around the World
• St. Patrick’s Day
• Holi Festival
• Chau Bun Festival
• Krampusnacht
• Icelandic Christmas
• Finding a Home for Woodstock
• Burning Man

DRESSING UP

• Deadly Masquerade Balls?
• Clowns versus Kings: A Battle for the Ages
• Gone Guising for Halloween
• Halloween Trends in North America
• A Very Wet Ren Faire
• The Three Types of War Reenactors
• Cosplay
• The Greatest Cosplay Crossovers
• The Origins of Drag
• It’s Time for Drag Queen Story Hour

ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS

• Lucy the Elephant: A Roadside Behemoth
• The Smallest House in Great Britain
• The Cabazon Dinosaurs
• The Mystery Hole: West Virginia
• The Icelandic Phallological Museum
• The Hair Museum of Avanos
• The Thing: Arizona
• Nagoro Village
• The House on the Rock
• Official Center of the World: California

Index
Acknowledgments
About the Author/About the Illustrator