The History of Farting

Amusement runs rampant in this book. Limericks abound about that indelicate function of the human body-it isn't a private function as some expulsion of wastes are, but it usually isn't a part of "polite" company. In addition there is an A to Z compendium of different classifications of farts. Interspersed are the ribald tales of the gaseous emissions and anecdotes of famous people and their flatulence. According to the author, Martin Luther could punctuate his sermons with ripping farts. Good thing he was preaching, because if he was in the congregation then Confucius words would apply: "He who fart in church sits in own pew." (Unfortunately, the author fails to provide any bibliography so that I can find where he got his information.) Is it ironic that the author's last name rhymes with the subject of the book? Hmmm, how's this for a limerick in the spirit of the book: There once was a doctor named Bart Who wrote a ripping book on the fart So studious he came To flatulent fame The book you don't stop once you start This is, to be sure, a rather small book, a collection of assorted limericks, facts, and blurbs on breaking wind. Graphic illustrations and cartoons are interspersed. And laughs are assured for all.

The world owes much to Dr. Benjamin Bart. How did we survive before he put together this profound historical work? Has anybody nominated Dr. Bart for a Nobel prize? He deserves at least a Pulitzer. There are rumors that the good doctor earnestly began his inquiries into the art and possible health benefits of farting sometime during the early years of his childhood. Some claim that little Benjamin was nicknamed "Bart the Fart." I think there was something about this in the "National Enquirer," but unfortunately I forgot the exact date of that most important issue.Dr. Bart believes that there is right way and a wrong way to fart. He tells us how the smart people perform this most human of tasks. I bet the reader was unaware that the famous philosopher Rene Descartes supposedly asked "Since I think--I exist, but what does it mean when I fart?" Ah, the education one can obtain outside the walls of a university. Did your philosophy professor have a clue concerning the more esoteric aspects of Descartes' philosophical insights? There are many other flatulent examples that should broaden your intellectual horizons."The History of Farting" even has some pictures to help one's illiterate cohorts. This book thankfully has little to do with either thee or me. We would rarely, if ever, do anything like farting. Should we, however, embarrass our buddies by presenting them with a gift copy of this perspicaciously brilliant expose of their less than polite habits? Of course we should. After all, what are friends for?

My Mother passed this book to me after she had vented its fare on her afternoon club. It is divided into six chapters, each spouting limericks and anecdotes concerning various aspects of crepitation. I found that I had a "whiff of a memory" of several of the dozens of limericks, a poetic form particularly suited to the subject of flatulence. There are airy songs, putrid prose and smudgy cartoons throughout the book. The final chapter, "The A-Z of Farting," expounds on preponderant and pathetic forms of flatulence, which have been so prevalent among man (and woman) for as long as the wind has blown.If you are looking for a good laugh and enjoy nature in its rudest form, this all to brief, passing wisp of wit will tickle and inspire you. Put in your "bubba teeth," grab a beer and read this on your next airline flight. FFRRRRRRRRRRRUPUPUPUP! Excuse Me.