How They Choked: Failures, Flops, and Flaws of the Awfully Famous

Like Bragg and O’Malley’s How They Croaked (2011), this lightly illustrated book offers caustically humorous insights into history—this time, via 14 famous figures who failed spectacularly at something. Subjects include Custer (“After Custer died, the Indian women found his corpse and bored a hole in his eardrums because George Armstrong Custer was a man who never listened”) Earhart (“the bad odds about gravity caught up with her”), and Van Gogh (“This time his family got their wish: Vincent finally went into an insane asylum”). Irresistible entertainment (and solid information) for readers with a tendency toward schadenfreude. Ages 10–14. Author’s agent: Edward Necarsulmer IV, Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary Agency. Illustrator’s agent: Melissa Turk. (May)