''Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder: Pronged Ants, Horned Humans, Mice on Toast, and Other Marvels of Jurassic Technology'' is a 1995 book by
Lawrence Weschler
Lawrence Weschler (born 1952) is an author of works of creative nonfiction.
A graduate of Cowell College of the University of California, Santa Cruz (1974), Weschler was for over twenty years (1981–2002) a staff writer at ''The New Yorker'', w ...
primarily about the
Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles, California, and, more broadly, the history and role of
museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...
s.
Contents
The book is divided into two sections, called ''Inhaling the Spore'' and ''Cerebral Growth''. ''Inhaling the Spore'' focuses on the Museum of Jurassic Technology itself. The author relates his experiences with the museum and its creator, the titular
David Hildebrand Wilson
David Hildebrand Wilson is the co-founder, along with his wife, Diana Wilson, of the enigmatic Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles, California.
After high school, Wilson enrolled at Kalamazoo College where he majored in urban entomology ...
.
In ''Cerebral Growth'' Weschler goes into greater depth about
Wonder Cabinets. "Cerebral growth" is also a pun, as one of the objects of the museum is a
human horn.
Reception
''Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder'' was a finalist for the
National Book Critics Circle Award for
nonfiction
Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with be ...
and the
Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction.
In 2019, Dan Kois and Laura Miller of
''Slate'' ranked it one of the 50 best nonfiction works of the past quarter-century.
References
Editions
* (
Paperback
A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) book ...
). Published by
Random House
Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
.
American non-fiction books
Museum books
1995 books
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