Cunk on Everything is a fun quick read. Topics are listed in alphabetical order and provide quick reading when you have a few minutes here or there. Hilarious, tongue in cheek, descriptions of historical events or explanations of things like soup or truth. Grab a copy today to read whenever you need a laugh.

CUNK ON EVERYTHING is the only encyclopedia I will ever look at ever again. I so enjoyed and loved the author's silly humor, clever wit, and her extremely absurd explanations of anything to hiccups, The Stone Ages, climate change, and Mozart. I hope the author will publish more editions. Cunk's way of thinking and perspective even makes you re-see and rethink about even the most ordinary things that we take for granted and basically everything we've ever been taught. Good to read in small doses and would make a great coffee table book. Highly recommend!!

Much gratitude to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for the digital arc in exchange for my honest thoughts.

To get the disclaimer out of the way: not many things are funnier than watching some poor subject-matter expert trying to contain themself while "Philomena Cunk" conducts one of her deranged interviews, so the fact that this book -- a sort of encyclopedia according to Cunk -- doesn't quite work *as* a book shouldn't discourage anyone from checking out her Instagram and YouTube videos.

Also, it's not that Cunk on Everything isn't funny, because it is. Cunk on moths: "Moths are like the BBC4 version of butterflies— a bit more boring, and mainly on at night. They sleep during the day, but once it is dark, they hunt in packs for their chief food: lightbulbs. The moths surround the lightbulb, and attack it, by flying repeatedly into it for hours on end until the lightbulb becomes exhausted and drops to the ground. One of the greatest sights in nature is a pride of moths dragging a subdued lightbulb back to their nest to feed to their moth cubs."

On the practice of transporting criminals to Australia: "As soon as the criminals landed, they stole a whole country, which was a much bigger crime than nicking a cabbage or whatever they’d gone down for, proving that if you trap criminals with loads of other criminals, it only makes them worse."

Cunk explaining how we know so much about the Battle of Hastings: "We’ve got an accurate visual record of the whole thing thanks to a quick-thinking bystander, who took a tapestry of it. Despite looking like a Games of Throne [sic] season finale drawn by an eight-year-old, the Baywatch Tapestry captures the full force of the battle. It’s just like being there, but in wool."

Well, you get the idea. A high proportion of the encyclopedia entries made me laugh, or smile, or roll my eyes and snort; the trouble is that they're all short-form pieces, and what works well when you're scrolling through your Instagram feed and happen across a Cunk reel or three doesn't work as well if you read a couple of dozen in a row. After a while you feel unpleasantly more than sated, as if you've eaten one too many of the really good caramels in the Valentine's Day box. But it's in the nature of a book that the person reading it will keep turning pages, so in being read, Cunk on Everything undoes its own pleasures.

A page-a-day Philomena Cunk calendar, though? I'd be all over that.

I find the "Cunk on..." TV series to be hilarious, and this book does not disappoint. I love reading her wacky take on all sorts of subjects. Fans of the TV show will love this, and those unfamiliar with the show will too. I think it will also make a good gift book. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Philomena Cunk has written essays about all things she knows from A to Zed. Each essay contains hilarious history that you can perfectly picture her talking to you about the subject. You will learn new things like how Australia's chief industry is spiders. This is written perfectly in Cunk prose so if you enjoyed any of her series, you will definitely enjoy this book. I like to read books before bed, but this one made me laugh too much that I had to read it in the daytime! There were sections of this book that made me almost cry laugh. As a grad student in Historic Preservation, this was such a delight to read!

I am a true Philomena Cunk fan. I have to read this book in sections because I get laughing so hard that I have to take breaks. I then find myself thinking about her hilarious take on history throughout my day, chuckling to myself. I recommend this to everyone because I think they deserve to laugh the way I have.

Her blunt, truthful statements leave me cracking up. It’s her view on things and the sense of humor in which she expresses it.

This is like reading a whole pile of essays written but undergrads or 6 graders (same essay styles there). I was laughing endlessly. Hilarious.
I would buy this book for sure.

I enjoy all things Philomena Cunk. The wit, the .., accidental? Knowledge? It’s all great- this book was no exception! Thank you NetGalley for allowing me a copy in exchange for my opinion!