It’s an ambitious task to cover such a comprehensive range of topics and perhaps herein lies the problem, as I found this compilation somewhat disjointed. ‘Superstition’ is covered in its broadest sense and the book deals with everything from the colours of the rainbow to Chinese astrology and evil spirits. Apart from some seemingly unrelated leaps from one topic to another, I don’t know what is more puzzling-what was included or what was not. The author says he wants the book to be ‘entertaining’ and ‘fun’ and his lighthearted approach hits the mark to some extent. He says he’s written ‘from a neutral, humanistic point of view’ and has no intention of ‘deliberately offending the sensitive or politically correct’. I’m obviously one of those, as a definite line was crossed with what I found to be an appalling, unnecessary entry (without reference to a source) about suicide bombings and Muslims. On the subject of superstitions, The Book of Beginnings and How Did it Begin? by Dr R Brasch and his wife Li are well worth consulting, likewise Judika Illes’ bumper ‘Element Encyclopedia’ series. I have to give Waterkeyn this-it takes a brave man to comment with authority on the female orgasm.

Paula Grunseit is a freelance reviewer and former deputy editor of Good Reading magazine

This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker

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