Bert Fegg's Nasty Book for Boys and Girls
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''Bert Fegg's Nasty Book for Boys And Girls'' is a humorous book first published by Methuen in 1974 which purports to have been written by a
psychopath Psychopathy, sometimes considered synonymous with sociopathy, is characterized by persistent antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and bold, disinhibited, and egotistical traits. Different conceptions of psychopathy have been ...
ic character, Dr. Fegg. In fact, the book is the work of
Terry Jones Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020) was a Welsh comedian, director, historian, actor, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy team. After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, Jones and ...
and
Michael Palin Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, television presenter, and public speaker. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. Since 1980, he has made a number of travel documentaries. Palin w ...
, who adapted a range of material from scripts written for the television comedy series, '' Monty Python's Flying Circus''. Some material was later used in the duo's later TV series, ''
Ripping Yarns ''Ripping Yarns'' is a British television adventure comedy anthology series. It was written by Michael Palin and Terry Jones of Monty Python fame. It was transmitted on BBC 2. Following an initial pilot episode in January 1976, it ran for two ser ...
'' (1975–78). The first edition was sold bearing a sticker on the front cover which read "A Monty Python Educational Product". The book satirises elements of educational text books, as well as annuals, which were popular hardcover publications for children featuring short stories, comic strips, and games, often based upon television series and films of the day.


Style of humour

The book uses the characteristic absurdist humour similar to Monty Python and relies on the use of non-sequitur,
parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...
, anarchic humour, juvenile references to bodily functions, and
black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discu ...
-style descriptions of gory violence for comedic effect. A fictional character, Dr. Bert Fegg, is presented as the author of the book. His bloodthirsty, psychopathic character is depicted in constant conflict with the publishers, as they attempt to raise the moral tone of the book and censor violent content. The exchange between author and publishers is presented through textual interjections such as "That's enough – the Publishers", in the style often used in the satirical magazine '' Private Eye''. Dr. Fegg's angry comments are scrawled handwriting printed on the pages. Recurring jokes throughout the book include a number of parody advertisements for exotic household gadgets, appearances by the sinister West
Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, c ...
Fighting Haddock, and passing references to "the Bournemouth Killings".


Authors and contributors

Python writers Terry Jones and Michael Palin wrote the content, with artwork provided by several British illustrators. Contributors to the book include British comics artist
Frank Bellamy Frank Bellamy (21 May 1917Khoury, George. ''True Brit: Celebrating The Comic Book Artists Of England'' (TwoMorrows Publishing, 2004). – 5 July 1976) was a People of the United Kingdom, British comics artist, best known for his work on the ...
(A Cowboy Story), cartoonists
Martin Honeysett Martin Honeysett (20 May 1943 – 21 January 2015) was an English cartoonist and illustrator. Early life Honeysett was born in Hereford. When he was two years old, his parents moved to London. He attended Selhurst Grammar School in Croydon ...
and Lolly Honeysett, and Paul Buckle, an illustrator who worked on a number of instructional football skills books in the 1970s.


Content

Among the topics covered in the book are: *The Wonderful World of Nature – descriptions of several fictional animals, such as the Patagonian Bursting Rabbit and the West Bromley Fighting Haddock *Across the Andes by Frog – a burlesque of a travel diary in a
mock-heroic Mock-heroic, mock-epic or heroi-comic works are typically satires or parodies that mock common Classical stereotypes of heroes and heroic literature. Typically, mock-heroic works either put a fool in the role of the hero or exaggerate the heroic ...
style; this material was later used in the TV series ''
Ripping Yarns ''Ripping Yarns'' is a British television adventure comedy anthology series. It was written by Michael Palin and Terry Jones of Monty Python fame. It was transmitted on BBC 2. Following an initial pilot episode in January 1976, it ran for two ser ...
'' (1977) *Soccer My Way by the Supremes – a
parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...
of football tactics books featuring the popular singing groups
the Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successf ...
and
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles The Miracles (also known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965 to 1972) were an American vocal group that was the first successful recording act for Berry Gordy's Motown Records, and one of the most important and most influential groups ...
, illustrated by Paul Buckle *Interesting Machines – illustrated in the style of
Heath Robinson William Heath Robinson (31 May 1872 – 13 September 1944) was an English cartoonist, illustrator and artist, best known for drawings of whimsically elaborate machines to achieve simple objectives. In the UK, the term "Heath Robinson cont ...
, this page describes a range of fantastical devices including the "Tally-Ho" Automatic Bed Wetter and the "Hygena" Automatic Nose Picker. *The Famous Five Go Pillaging – a short story which parodies the writing style of
Enid Blyton Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have b ...
; five children witness the collapse of Roman imperialism and their friends and family are slaughtered by 9000 invading
Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and ...
. *Great Men of History – in fact a collection of nonsensical poems about three women:
Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...
, Queen Boadicea and
Lady Godiva Lady Godiva (; died between 1066 and 1086), in Old English , was a late Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who is relatively well documented as the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and a patron of various churches and monasteries. Today, she is mainly re ...
*A Cowboy Story – a pastiche of a
Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
comic strip, in which cowboy "Kid" Masterton's horse develops bronchial
pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...
and is taken to a clinic for treatment; illustrations are by British comics artist
Frank Bellamy Frank Bellamy (21 May 1917Khoury, George. ''True Brit: Celebrating The Comic Book Artists Of England'' (TwoMorrows Publishing, 2004). – 5 July 1976) was a People of the United Kingdom, British comics artist, best known for his work on the ...
. *Aladdin and his Terrible Problem – a humorous
pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...
script following the exploits of Aladdin and his sidekick, Pisso the Alcoholic Dog. The script ends abruptly with "Curtain. End of Act Two. Theatre goes out of business." The original hardcover featured a page of
paper doll Paper dolls are figures cut out of paper or thin card, with separate clothes, also made of paper, that are usually held onto the dolls by paper folding tabs. They may be a figure of a person, animal or inanimate object. Paper dolls have been ine ...
s of the play's characters that, in theory, could be cut out and used to perform the play. *How to Destroy this Book – a final exhortation by Dr. Fegg to his young readers to wanton destruction, censored by the publishers. *The original UK edition also included references to a faux contest whereby readers were invited to look for a "deliferate mistale" located "somewhat" in the book. *The book climaxes with a two-page, gory illustration of Bert Fegg chopping open a monster with an axe (presented in the style of
Terry Gilliam Terrence Vance Gilliam (; born 22 November 1940) is an American-born British filmmaker, comedian, animator, actor and former member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam has directed 13 feature films, including '' Time Bandits'' (1981), '' ...
's animations), followed by profuse apologies by the book's publishers and a final scrawled rant by Fegg.


Later editions

Expanded and revised editions of the book appeared as ''Dr. Fegg's Nasty Book of Knowledge'' in the US in 1976 and ''Dr. Fegg's Encyclopeadia ''(sic)'' of all World Knowledge'', in the UK in 1984.


Bibliography

*''Bert Fegg's Nasty Book for Boys and Girls'', with Terry Jones (1974) *''Dr. Fegg's Nasty Book of Knowledge'', with Terry Jones (1976) *''Bert Fegg's Encyclopeadia (sic) of all World Knowledge'', with Terry Jones (1984)


External links


Terry Jones Books
– PythOnline's Daily Llama

– a review of Bellamy's illustrations {{Monty Python Monty Python literature 1974 books Books by Terry Jones Books by Michael Palin Methuen Publishing books