Certitude: A Profusely Illustrated Guide to Blockheads and Bullheads, Past and Present

By Adam Begley and Christopher Hitchens

Sometimes all we have is the courage of our convictions. But not all convictions are created equal. In fact, some are downright delusional. And once a foolish notion sinks its teeth into the famous or the powerful, look out–the impact can have profound consequences for the rest of us. So it’s nothing short of gratifying when our most bullheaded and self-righteous leading lights insist on getting their way only to be proven egregiously embarrassingly wrong. From politicians to pontiffs, movie stars to moguls, and artists to inventors, Certitude presents short biographical sketches of notoriously stubborn individuals who were certain they were right–with laughable, disturbing, and often disastrous results.

Earning a place among the greatest historical and contemporary bullheads are:
•Girolamo Savonarola, the Dominican friar who failed to place his own vanities on the bonfire.
•Carry A. Nation, the saloon smasher who didn’t have a temperate bone in her teetotaling body.
•Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes series, who lacked the deductive reasoning he bestowed on his own creation.
•Joseph Stalin, the hard-line Soviet leader who had a soft spot after all.
•Madonna, the queen of pop, who isn’t just a material girl: She’s embraced Kabbalah and the doctrine of reincarnation–in other words, she’ll be back!

Informative, irreverent, and brilliantly illustrated by the caricaturist Edward Sorel, Certitude is a book for our time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: May 12, 2009
• ISBN: 9780307459817

Reviews for Certitude

[hopeevey · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The jacket text for this book suggests that it will be funny, and show the dangers of clinging to an idea in the face of contradictory evidence. It fails on both counts, at least for me.

I suspect the authors assumed all that the readers would find a kind of point-and-laugh humor in each tiny biography, just as he did. I didn't really see it, but it was the best I could figure he was going for. This book might be more amusing to someone with the authors sense of humor. I just found it sad.

I was also disappointed to see no references, no bibliography, no evidence of why the author is so certain his take on each person is accurate.

[markberonte · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sometimes all we have is the courage of our convictions. But not all convictions are created equal. In fact, some are downright delusional. And once a foolish notion sinks its teeth into the famous or the powerful, look out–the impact can have profound consequences for the rest of us. So it’s nothing short of gratifying when our most bullheaded and self-righteous leading lights insist on getting their way only to be proven egregiously embarrassingly wrong. From politicians to pontiffs, movie stars to moguls, and artists to inventors, Certitude presents short biographical sketches of notoriously stubborn individuals who were certain they were right–with laughable, disturbing, and often disastrous results.