Mr. Wilson's Cabinet Of Wonder: Pronged Ants, Horned Humans, Mice on Toast, and Other Marvels of Jurassic Techno logy

By Lawrence Weschler

Finalist for Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction
Finalist for National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction

Pronged ants, horned humans, a landscape carved on a fruit pit--some of the displays in David Wilson's Museum of Jurassic Technology are hoaxes. But which ones? As he guides readers through an intellectual hall of mirrors, Lawrence Weschler revisits the 16th-century "wonder cabinets" that were the first museums and compels readers to examine the imaginative origins of both art and science.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Mar 20, 2013
• ISBN: 9780307833983

Reviews for Mr. Wilson's Cabinet Of Wonder

[mrgan-2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A fascinating subject: a museum which blurs the lines between factual exhibits and less verifiably truthful ones, but seeks to inspire wonder at all times. Much like the Museum of Jurassic Technology itself seems to be, based on the descriptions here, the book is a bit of a strange journey, with fits and stops and digressions.

[bragan_8 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The first half of this book describes the author's explorations and investigations of Los Angeles's Museum of Jurassic technology and encounters with its proprietor, David Wilson. And a weird, weird place this is. Weird enough that I felt compelled to look it up and make sure it was actually a real establishment, and not some sort of elaborate prank or fantasy. Turns out, it is real, and despite the fact that this book was published in 1995, it's still there, and still doing... whatever the heck it is that it's doing.Because, the way Weschler describes it, it's hard to tell to what extent this place qualifies as a museum and to what extent it's some kind of bizarre art project. It contains exhibits and information that are strange, and strangely presented, but perfectly real, and others that are completely made up. Or partly made up. Or completely crackpotty. Or something. It can be very hard to tell the difference, and very hard to tell when Wilson is being serious and when he's being ironic.Weschler clearly falls down quite a rabbit hole here, and the main effect is to leave one blinking and going, "What the heck did I just read?" Which seems entirely appropriate to the subject matter.The second half mostly consists of a little historical exploration of the wunderkammer, or cabinet of wonder, a tradition in whose footsteps the Wilson's odd collection certainly follows. The subject matter here is interesting, but the disjointed writing style which did such a good job capturing the feel of the Museum works less well here, and the rambling footnotes are more than a little distracting.

[rascalstar · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Hmmmm. It's hard to say what I thought about this book. It was well researched with far too many citations and references within the text, which made the book harder to read. I have great admiration for both the author and Mr. Wilson who runs the museum at the center of this book. At a basic level, the book encompasses an interesting topic, or many really. I loved the tidbits of artifacts and oddities, wonders of the natural world, and also the relationship that developed between Wilson and Weschler, the author. I enjoyed how Weschler captured the spirit of all of it within this book, and how so many unbelievable items were proved, more or less. Silliness and crazy ideas from past centuries are woven among all this, illustrating the blurring of lines, given the times in which beliefs existed.

At every starred spot, leading to more reading near the back of the book, I dutifully went there and read the further information. Did the rest of you do that? I think I'd enjoy visiting the museum, especially after reading all this intriguing "history".

This book isn't for everyone. Literary readers may like it. Scientifically-minded people may like it. Curious people with wide interests might enjoy it. History buffs could find it interesting. It's not a book for light readers of fast easy books. It's a small book but isn't light reading, though it has some moments of fun, humor, warmth, and yes, wonder. There are many illustrations, drawings, and old photos within.

The title of the book is funny -- Jurassic has nothing to do with the book as far as I can see, and Jurassic Technology? Clever!

[jbd1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Rather an odd little volume, and not quite at all what I was expecting. Weschler begins with a long piece on the intensely strange Museum of Jurassic Technology, and then broadens the scope to discuss the history of museums and cabinets of curiosities. Certainly a good read if you've any interest in such things.

[eenee_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A fun book about weird stuff. Makes me want to throw it all away and study museology instead.

[glade1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not exactly what I expected but not a bad book. The first portion, I believe, was a magazine article Weschler had written specifically about the Museum of Jurassic Technology. The second part of the book expands on the concept of cabinets of curiosities, their history, etc. And a big chunk of the back of the book is extended notes by the author as well as a bibliography, etc. So it was a quick read.This book contained a lot of interesting information, although at times it felt more like I was reading someone's scholarly paper or thesis; it got a bit dry and didactic at times, and I had to run to the dictionary more than once to look up unfamiliar words. I also sometimes felt as if I weren't in on the joke; part of the gimmick of Wilson's museum is that the visitor never knows if what he is reading/seeing is fact or fiction. Is it truly a historical or biological phenomenon, or is it something Wilson created or twisted? And maybe I'm a little dense, but I think I needed some of the answers spelled out more clearly for me. There were times when the author would mention a fact that related to an exhibit described earlier but he would not specifically say, "Aha! So this part of The Museum of Jurassic Technology exhibits is correct," or "Aha! Wilson was pulling our legs." Perhaps I need to reread the book to make all the connections.The subject of cabinets of curiosities, or Wunderkammern, interests me. I'd like to find a more accessible, entertaining book with discussion of these collections.

[ridgewaygirl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The books begins when Lawrence Weschler wanders into the Museum of Jurassic Technology in Culver City, California, where he encounters an oddly fascinating collection of exhibits. Beginning with the Cameroonian stink ant and the spores of a fungus, which when inhaled, cause the ant to climb upward, eventually grabbing onto the vine or trunk with his mandible, where he dies. The fungus then sprouts from the ant's forehead, raining spores down on the unsuspecting ants below. Other exhibits include a theory of memory, a very small bat and a collection of antlers, which includes the horn of Mary Davis of Saughall.Weschler is understandably intrigued, and speaking with David Wilson, the museum's owner and curator, adds to his curiosity. Professionally presented, the museum nonetheless awakens seeds of doubt in his mind, which sprout when he researches the exhibits. Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder looks at our ideas about museums and looks at how museums came to be; originating from the wunderkammern of the early enlightenment, where wealthy men collected interesting items and grouped them together in a room or cabinet for the wonderment of his guests. Classification was optional and certainly different, with one collection includingtwo huge ribs from a whale (out in the courtyard); "a goose which has grown in Scotland in a tree"; "a number of things changed into stone" (in other words, fossils); the hand of a mermaid; the hand of a mummy; a small piece of wood from the cross of Christ"; "pictures from the church of S. Sofia in Constantinople copies by a Jew into a book"; "a bat as large as a pigeon"...There is a lot packed into this slender book, from the nature of wonder itself to the history of those fascinating and eclectic cabinets of curiosity, which sprang up when explorers to the far east and the Americas began returning with things never before seen and as superstition gave way to reason.

[fundevogel · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This turned out to be better than I expected. Quite good actually. It attempts to share a taste of the Museum of Jurassic Technology with the reader. I've been to the Museum (located in Los Angeles) which is not like any other museum I've been to. The book does a good job reproducing the seamless blending a fact with fantasy that happens there even as the author retells his attempt to sort the truth from the fiction in the museum's exhibits and history. I can't imagine a more perfect approach to a book about a contemporary wunderkammen.

[lisa_emily_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A small book which opens vistas how thinking about museums and their collections. While reading, I also thought about taxonomy and how we organize the stuff we are surronded by.

[adzebill · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An endearing extended essay on a very eccentric man and his museum.

[mosaic42 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Highly recommended.As a boy I wandered the halls of London's British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, and other massive dusty relics of empire, and Weschler entertainingly and convincingly connects the dots between an arguably insane collector of bizarre scientific trivia in Los Angeles, and the important history of collecting that is the foundation of much scientific, archaeological and anthropological knowledge.The world is an exceedingly strange place; and though modern credulity will no longer accept narwhal tusks as unicorn horns, there are still wonders out there. And who can say which freakish quirks of nature are important glimpses of truth, and which are merely roadside ephemera?(john)