Full disclosure - I have not finished this and I will not finish it in print format. I think this is going to be amazing in audiobook format. The bite size stories are interesting and I love the topic, the oddities that are detailed. I've come to learn, from reading this, that the format of mini-tales doesn't work for me. I struggle to maintain interest. However, having listened to the audiobook versions of Mahnke's World of Lore series, I am positive I will enjoy this book in that format and will buy it when the book publishes. I just hope that Mahnke is the narrator, since I am already reading this in his voice.

My only critique is the asides are often distracting. It's not so bad when they are humorous, but some of them are just in bad taste, and that pulls me out of the book. While humor is subjective, sometimes it is best to just not make commentary at all.

Cabinet of Curiosities: A Collection of History’s Most Incredible Stories (2024)
By Aaron Mahnke (with Harry Marks)
St. Martin’s Press, 336 pages,
(Available November 12, 2024)
★★★

Perhaps you think museums specialize in dominant collections: art, archaeology, aerospace, costumes, furniture, historical homes, science, transportation…. Actually, a singular focus is relatively recent in Western culture. Those with long memories might recall that the Peabody Essex Museum’s India Hall (Salem, MA) used to be filled with tall cases filled with items choked in willy nilly. These once-ubiquitous displays were cabinets of curiosities, unusual objects (for their day) collected by travelers that inspired the abbreviation curio. If objects, why not ideas, “virtual” objects to stuff into mental cabinets.

Aaron Mahnke is a successful podcaster and writer whose about-to-be-released book, Cabinet of Curiosities, is an agglomeration of historical events, coincidences, gutsy feats, inventions, tales, and unorthodox people loosely stitched together as “historical.” If you’re scholarly-language averse, don’t worry; Mahnke’s book is about as far from hardcore academia as you can get. Many of his stories rest upon (sometimes obvious) teasers or end in puns. How one reacts to these is strictly a matter of taste.

Mahnke blurs the line between events of historical significance and trivia. A few of his short entries–most are just a few pages–are either disputed or apocryphal. Examples of these include the cause of Rudolph Valentino’s death, a 124-year-old Civil War veteran, the Crawfordville (IN) monster, ghost stories, and the assumed fate of a member of the Franklin Expedition. (That one got a new twist this month!) Others certainly fall into the trivia category often labelled “fun facts.” These include the fate of L. Frank Baum’s jacket, why composers fear writing a 13th symphony, a woman who braved Niagara Falls in a barrel, people with prodigious memories, and jokes that became realities. Some are not-so-much-fun facts. Do we really care that the overweight Goran Krupp failed to climb Mt. Everest in 1966, or that Gene Rodenberry, the creator of Star Trek, had a troubled history with flying?

Full Disclosure: I am a professional historian, so the next critique should be filtered through that lens but tempered by the fact that I’m not a snob. (I celebrate anything that sparks an interest in history.) Numerous Mahnke “revelations” are pretty well known. These include the astronomical coincidence of Mark Twain’s birth and death, how Theodore Roosevelt survived an assassination attempt, the story of the Learned Pig, the last Japanese World War II soldier, Henry Brown’s unique escape from enslavement, the link between Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and galvanism, how seances are faked, the background of da Vinci’s flying machine, and Louis B. Mayer’s sly-but-failed plan to rid Hollywood of labor unions.

To give credit where it’s due, Cabinet of Curiosities is exactly as it purports to be. It is as if random occurences from human history got stuffed into an attic full of unmarked boxes. Anyone who has ever gone to a flea market knows the frisson of picking through a container of the humdrum and happening upon something marvelous. Mahnke divides his book into a dozen easily digestible sections. I would recommend that you do not try to read it in big gulps. The problem with physical cabinets of curiosities was that so many objects in one place tended to overwhelm viewers; wonderment began to meld into mental mush. The same can be true of this book, so read a few tales, think about them, and put the book aside. If something seems a bit “fishy,” it’s never been easier to check for other interpretations. Rinse and repeat.

I’m not sure if Mahnke had this audience in mind, but teachers can mine gold from this book. I often used folklore in my own classes to enliven weary students. Were all of those stories true? If they weren't, they should have been!

Rob Weir

Thanks to Macmillan and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book.

In the style of a Paul Harvey Radio program, the author takes the reader through some of the most unusual things, events, people in history.

I really enjoyed that each of the stories was just about 4 pages long. it wasn't overly taxing and I did learn about some things, Napolean getting attacked by rabbits, strange cities, and strange folks.

This is a perfect bathroom reader.

You will learn a bit more then you would just taking a history class.

Overall, a well researched book.

However, some of the stories were too short and ended very abruptly leaving me to wonder why it ended so quickly.

Bite-sized bits of strange history. Several of these sent me down the rabbit hole seeking more info. Recommended.

Curiously fun, pun intended. As it turned out, I read this one in bits and pieces between chores, errands, and other books. That may be the ideal way to read it. As I discovered when I pushed on reading longer, the quickness of the chapters and variety of topics made it difficult to switch gears at time. I was able to take in what I was reading much better in smaller doses than large. In other words, this is one you can pick up any time, flip to any section, read awhile, and come back to later without missing a beat. The chapters are quite short although I noted lengthier ones near the end. Not being familiar with the author's podcast, I'm not sure if these were actual scripts used in the show or slimmed down for reading. They all were easy reading and usually ended with a pun, quip, or some sort of word play. I'll note here that there is a list of the sources given at the end.

As for the stories themselves, I was actually familiar with some, such as the Edwin Booth tale, but most were unfamiliar to me. One of my favorites was early on about the attempted assassination of Theodore Roosevelt. Quite a bit more detail than I recalled reading in the past, so a boon to this history major and fan of TR. Lots of familiar names will pop up but, be aware, you may not know that name until the end, such as the tales of Agatha Christie, Shakespeare, or, say, the weird connection of the coat in Wizard of Oz. I didn't take time to calculate but would say that many of the stories are actually about little known or even unknown people like the jockey who died astride as his horse won a steeplechase or the poor pilot sucked out of an airplane after the windshield went bye-bye. Amazingly, he survived thanks to quick, strong friends. There are also any number of war related tales, some about humans, some featuring animals (yes, several doggie tales within). Eerie mysteries are always fun and there are quite a few, as well as stories featuring strange coincidences, and, well, many, many more topics. It's a fun, quirky collection of tales where, if you're not taken by one, you can just move on a page or two and be into another tale.

Bottom line, if you're looking for an intriguing diversion that doesn't necessarily demand huge chunks of your time all at once, this book may be for you. It was largely an easy read. I'm thinking I may need to find his podcast and give it a listen. Entertaining and, yes, strange, or even bewildering. Some may have you shaking your head while muttering "No way!" but you'll find something to grab your interest here, I'm thinking, if you are the curious type. Thanks #StMartin'sPress for giving me early access to this diverting read. Now I need to go check out some composers 9th symphonies. Grin.

An interesting compilation of some exotic and remarkable occurrences and some remarkable coincidences. The first third of the book was exciting and entertaining, the second third was not necessary and could have been cut to make a tighter book.

As the title implies, this is a compendium of strange and very diverse facts. The author starts the book by recounting how he took his inspiration from one of his favorite places, a cabinet of curiosities at the British Museum. This is also the basis for his podcast, which explains the clear and conversational language that he uses. Every chapter tells a story, some from History (with a capital H) and others involving less famous people. He also maintains the suspense till the end, closing most chapters with an unexpected twist. As happens with these type of books, it is a mixed bag. Some of the stories were new and fascinating to me. Others were versions of facts I’ve heard before. As expected, there were some chapters that I just didn’t care about because the subjects are not the type of content I seek out (true crime, or military history, for instance). So your enjoyment of this book will depend on the variety of subjects that you’re interested in, but there will always be something for everyone.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/ St. Martin's Press.

This is a sizeable collection of interesting, bizarre, and unusual stories (with some feeling more like anecdotes). The book's organization makes sense: stories are grouped based on themes or commonalities. All are very short. On the one hand, this creates lots of natural stopping points to take breaks. On the other hand, this makes the book feel very choppy and disjointed. I also felt that for some stories, they ended too abruptly: the big reveal was made, and that would be the end of it when I could have used more context details and fleshing out of the bigger picture. Overall, this book reads like a podcast script, which I found to be annoying and distracting, particularly the overuses (especially in the earlier stories) of " you see" and ellipses.

Unfortunately, I was solidly underwhelmed with this book. I liked the concept of the idea (and who doesn’t love an odd, quirky story, especially if you also learn something new!) but in execution, it just didn’t work for me. The stories were very short (arguably too short), so I’d read 1-5 at a time and then feel bored and set it down. Finally, I made a push to finish. I saw someone say that this would be a good bathroom reader, which I’ve never heard before, but I wholeheartedly agree. To pick up and read a quick tidbit, fine. To read the story cover to cover, less enjoyable.

Some were interesting and made me question how true they really were. It felt like the sources were mostly Wikipedia and the internet… that made it lose some validity imho

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC of Cabinet of Curiosities in exchange for an honest review.

Cabinet of Curiosities is a treasure trove of macabre, fascinating, and in most cases, not well known short stories. These little snippets of history are divided into various genres including but not limited to: coincidences, literature, mysteries, origin stories true crime, and several more. Each tale is short (around 3-4 pages) and concise. For those who are easily pulled into the mysteries of the bizarre, I would expect this book would read very quickly.

I can certainly say that there were sections that I enjoyed more than others and most of the stories were ones I had not heard before discovering Cabinet of Curiosities. However, I think that I would have enjoyed this more as an audiobook or podcast. This format just did not hold my attention and I found myself only reading a handful of stories at a time before I got a bit bored. Because of that, I do feel like this would be perfect for audiobook format. I could see myself easily getting wrapped up in these stories on a long drive. It’s my understanding the author already has a highly successful podcast prior to the release of this book, so I will be checking that out in the meantime.

If weird, unusual, and unexpected are up your alley, give this one a try (maybe on audiobook) and certainly hop over to check out Aaron Mahnke’s podcast titled Aaron Mahnke’s Cabinet of Curiosities.

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance copy of this collection of essays dealing with those moments in life that make one wonder who it could have happened, was it coincidence, fate, or luck, moments that make life what it is.

Recently I awoke with the knowledge that the paint I was looking for wasn't where it was supposed to be, but on a different shelf with seasonal things, a shelf that I look at maybe twice a year. I don't know why I remembered, but I knew it was there. Going into the basement I grabbed a flashlight and while on the floor so oil leaking from the tank in my garage. There wasn't a lot of oil, but any oil is bad. I called company, they came and were able to patch the hole. I was told I was lucky that I found it so early, as it really could have been a mess. 2 years after my father died, I was in a job that seemed to have longer workdays than enjoyable moments. I was traveling home, on back roads at a rate of speed that could be called excessive. As clear as a bell I heard my father say, "Slow it down," with a nickname he only used for me when I was doing something stupid. I did so, and a few minutes later was able to avoid a der in the road. On I would not have avoided earlier. Coincidence. Divine intervention. Or just my mind working on a problem, solving it, and finding a leak, combined with even a dumb male knowing that going fast on serpentine rural Connecticut roads is really dumb. I don't know. I will never know. However they make for good stories. Aaron Mahnke would agree. On his podcast Mahnke shares stories about people that seem too good to be real, but real in a way that makes life the wonder that it is, or can be. Cabinet of Curiosities: A Historical Tour of the Unbelievable, the Unsettling, and the Bizarre by Mahnke with Harry Marks, is a collection of stories, essays about people living life, facing death, and doing things that confound and push one's believability, yet at the same time, reminds us that we know only so much about this planet we dwell on.

The book starts with an introduction to the idea of curiosities, and how one can start on one subject say inventions, and go off into places where one might not expect. The book is group in this kind of way, mysteries, inventions, animals. The essays are short maybe a few pages, but tell a narrative about people, places, things, and things that can't be explained. The story of a man who was born a dwarf, but died a giant. A violinist who was also a sharpshooter, though he lacked something or two. Bones beneath the house of Ben Franklin, windmills where they shouldn't be. Writing that defies translation. The essays share one thing in common, all are written quite well and leave the reader with a feeling that the world might not be the bad place it is, even in stories that really shouldn't

Aaron Mahnke is a very good writer. There is a lot of empathy to these tales, even when there should not be. One feels quite a bit of sadness and sometimes loss not only for the person but for what could have been. Life isn't all about money, influenceing others, AI. Sometimes life is about being lead by a strange figure, a figure that might have been dead, to save a sick mother. There are many little things that makes one go, no way. and yet, way not. Nothing wrong with thinking like that. To me it adds that spice, that feeling that the world is better than the bad news one sees all the time on social media.

I really enjoyed this book quite a lot. The writing had much to do with it, but it was the choice of stories, the presentation that really sold me. I listen to a lot of podcasts, but have to admit, I knew nothing about this one. That will have to change. Though I must admit I would love to read more by Aaron Mahnke.

I love the concept of this book. The title is very fitting.

Many, many of these curiosities were completely unknown to me- I learned a lot. Very interesting and very fun! I loved it.

Some of you might remember Paul Harvey's "The Rest of the Story," a book compiled from a number of radio broadcasts in the 70's and 80's. It consisted of bite-size anecdotes of strange occurences, often featuring well-known people, or historical events. Harvey always ended the broadcast with a zinger, and said "And now you know the rest of the story." Cabinet of Curiosities took a cue from Harvey, for what is a podcast but a 21st century radio show? Mankhe also collected his podcasts and featured them in this book.
This is a book not meant to be read in one sitting. Each of his anecdotes are 2-3 pages long-perfect for reading on the train or while waiting in a doctor's office. The subjects range from premonitions, like Mark Twain experienced in his youth, to the strange history of the croissant. The offerings are entertaining and enlightening...most of the information was new to me, and I'll probably enjoy sharing his tales with others.
If you have time on your hands and want to learn some new trivia, Cabinet of Curiosities just might be the book you need. As with any cabinet, you can open it and shut it at will without losing time or your train of thought. And now you know the rest of the story.

This book is a compilation of short historical “did you know” narratives about a wide range of people, events and creatures. Many of these I had read elsewhere, so I found myself skimming over several chapters as it was not new information. For those who have not either listened to the author’s podcast series or read about the contents of the book, you will find it informative and an interesting read.

I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog.

Random coincidences and strange attractions almost seem commonplace in the pages of this book. Podcaster Aaron Mahnke tells hundreds of short stories reminiscent of Ripley's Believe it or Not, including everything from mind-reading horses to the time American troops nearly nuked North Carolina.

There's something about these stories that's inherently fascinating, making it impossible to turn away. I could have done without the rambling intros to many of these stories, and the way Mahnke dramatically withholds a key fact until the very end is sometimes aggravating (because then I need to go back and re-read the story to appreciate just how strange it is). This book is a fun coffee-table volume or a pleasant way to spend a few minutes waiting for the taxi. It's mostly clean and generally not horrific, making it suitable for younger readers, though it's not intended to be a kids' book. I'd recommend it for anyone who enjoys weird trivia.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I read only 10% of this book, but I am not going to read any more. The stories are brief and interesting, but each one ends with a very schlocky and cutesy conclusion and I just can’t keep reading.

I can see how this would be a good podcast, and I tried reading just one story at a time, but life is too short to keep reading a book I find this irritating.

This book was not exactly what I was expecting. A cabinet of curiosities was a “collection of objects that told a story about the world and its history,” according to Google. As such, I expected each story to be predicated on an interesting object, but instead the stories stood by themselves. I was somewhat disappointed by this, but I still enjoyed the book as it was.

In “Cabinet of Curiosities,” Aaron Mahnke shares a compilation of intriguing, odd, and sometimes downright alarming true stories, which are divided into such categories as Creatures, Mysteries, and True Crime to name a few. Each story is short and succinct, and often includes uncanny coincidences. The last sentence in each is comprised of a pithy ending statement. To some extent, “Cabinet of Curiosities” reminded me of the Guinness World Record books, although with a little more background information. My favorite story featured Carl Unthan, who was born without arms yet lived life to the fullest. This would be a good book for those interested in the genre, as well as anyone who enjoys a book with plenty of good stopping points.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and was not required to post a positive review.

Some years ago, I stumbled across Aaron Mahnke's podcast Cabinet of Curiosities and immediately began devouring it. I enjoyed its bite-sized content, the narrator's punny twists, and the subjects were genuinely, well, curious. I confess, life got in the way, and I fell out of the habit of listening to the podcast—or podcasts, in general. So, I was surprised and excited when I discovered Mahnke took the podcast to a new medium.

Cabinet of Curiosities as a book remains true to form. Each story is just a few pages, so it makes for easy and fun reading—whether you want to pick it up for one story at a time or, as I did back in my podcast heyday, devour a whole lot of them. Further, I enjoyed the organization of the content, with the stories being collected topically under American History, Mysteries, True Crime, Creatures, War, and other subject matters. 

Now, to be fair, the book could use more citations (though some sources are included at the end). This leaves some of the stories to questionable integrity and historicity. At the same time, I think that is what makes these stories curious in nature. They are shrouded in lore and legend. If you're looking for a historically accurate work that makes you go, "Aha!," this may not be it, but if you're looking for entertaining urban tales and interesting stories that makes you go, "Hmmm," look no further than Cabinet of Curiosities.

And, as I mentioned, if you're unsure what you're looking for, well, there's also the audio format in Mahnke's podcast by the same name. If you enjoy that format, then this book will only be a continuation of that.

A big thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced readers copy in return for my honest review.

As a fan of Aaron Mahnke's hit podcast Cabinet of Curiosities, this book was naturally a must-read. It’s like bingeing the podcast, but in book form—straight to the point, fascinating, and packed with bizarre stories from history.

The book captures the same eerie charm and oddball intrigue that fans of Aaron Mahnke have come to expect. Mahnke masterfully strings together a tapestry of strange historical moments, from Abraham Lincoln’s son’s wild rescue to the cursed car that killed James Dean.

It’s a beautiful and, at times, creepy collection of quirky stories, perfect for both podcast veterans and newcomers. Whether you're reading about peculiar inventions or extraordinary people, Mahnke keeps you hooked with his signature storytelling style. Cabinet of Curiosities is a treasure trove of the odd and the downright weird—guaranteed to make you the most interesting person at any dinner party.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review Cabinet of Curiosities prior to publication.

This was such a fun collection of short stories about all Sorts of things. I enjoyed reading a story here and there and taking my time. It is super different than what I typically read but it was super interesting. I am intrigued to listen to the authors podcast now.