Customer Reviews
Why Not Catch Him? - By: Andrew Moules, 30 Jan 2008 
The title should be why not Catch 18, as it is made clear that that was the number chosen by Heller as a title up until the publisher with deeper thinking & subtlty gave us the title which became a well known (and according to Heller) misused phrase. That is one of the high points of this ragtag colllection of titular explanantions. One should ask: Why not Lord of the Hobbits? or Catcherin the Maize? These books however, are not included. What is her eis only that which has a story behind it. At least a partly verifiable story.
It is a mine of (useless) information. The pseudonymes of the 3 Bronte sisters & their first book of published poems & when they died, & some of their influences are all to be foundin one chapter. Then there is Moby Dick & the first Sherlock Holmes story, stolen from Edgar Allen Poe; perhaps? Tnhere is, unlike sherlock Holmes, lots of conjecture & littlein the way of facts for most of the chapters, except C.S.Lewis, one of the greatest minds of the 20th Century & accountable about his written works. He answers a young enquirers question about Aslanin this way:
Has there never been anyonein this world who(1.) Arrived at the same time as Father Christmas.(2.) Said he was the son of the Great Emperor.(3.) Gave himself up for someone else's fault to be jeered at & killed by wicked people.(4.) Came to life again.(5.) Is sometimes spoken of as a lamb (see the end of the Dawn Treader). Don't you really know His namein this world. Think it over & let me know the answer!
Then there is Marie Stopes's book about married sex. It turns out that she would have been appalled that her name is now attached to abortion clinics & the rights of homosexuals. All very interesting though.
Finally, the banality of most of the stories is amusing. A clockwork Orange was probably derived from nothing more subversive that a Terry's Chocolate Orange!
Catchy title - By: Patrick Mullane, 04 Jan 2008 
An engaging & interesting book on the history behind various literary works. The authors chooses 50 titles, from ancient Greece to modern day USA & shows how the works came to be called the way they are. As the original articles come from a regular newspaper column, one can delightfully pick & choose excerpts at random. My own favourite is the article on why it is Catch-22 by Joseph Heller & not say Catch-14.
Why Not Catch 21? - By: Speedemon09, 21 Oct 2007 
A fantastic read, both interestingly factual & compelling. I would reccomend this to anybody with even the slightest taste of great non-fiction. Gary Dexter's, Why Not Catch 21 is a must. This is one of the books you hsve to read before you die. I am eagerly awaiting a sequel or more of his great writing. Bravo.
