accidents (3) addiction (10) animals (6) artists (4) biography (13) biology (10) botany (10) box 1 upstairs (3) cults (6) death (72) death and dying (6) drugs (12) dying (6) Early Reviewers (9) eccentrics (3) encyclopedia (20) history (33) humor (24) Kindle (4) mortality (4) most-interesting-references (5) nature (6) non-fiction (101) non-fiction_history-truecrime (4) obituaries (10) pathology (3) plants (5) pop culture (8) psychology (8) read (5) reference (41) religion (20) science (9) sociology (7) Tampa (5) thanatology (6) to-read (78) trivia (12) unread (10) wishlist (6)

Common Knowledge

Canonical name: Largo, Michael
Birthdate: 1954
Gender: male
Nationality: USA
Places of residence: New York, New York, USA
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Education: College Of Staten Island
Occupations: author
researcher
poet
sailor
Organizations: Allied Artists
Awards and honors: Whiteside Poetry Award

Members

Reviews

The big, bad book of botany by Michael Largo

A fun book to dip into….though I enjoyed reading it cover to cover….Remember that the author is not a botanist, so don’t expect a lot of plant science….you won’t find it. What is there is a lot of plant lore, from indigenous uses as food, medicine and spiritual aid to tales of plants that Judas hung himself on or that were once human and were transformed by the gods, this book is full of interesting and fun facts and stories.

Keep in. Ind, though, that many plants are powerful medicines and you should take the author’s casual recommendations to use them for this or that ailment with an accompanying dose of research and Dr.’s advice… (more)

Flagged

cspiwak | 1 other review | Mar 6, 2024 |

Genius and Heroin: The Illustrated Catalogue of… by Michael Largo

Like Largo's two other "encyclopaedias", this chronicles death of many celebrities both well known and since forgotten. This book focuses on those acclaimed for genius in many different fields and their subsequent addictions, peculiarities, and eventual death, usually bizarre and/or self-inflicted.
This book is great for those interested in the history of people and the macabre, both of which I find truly fascinating.

Flagged

brittaniethekid | 17 other reviews | Jul 7, 2022 |

God's Lunatics: Lost Souls, False Prophets, Martyred… by Michael Largo

My least favourite of his encyclopaedias but still really interesting. Found a few too many typos and some of the images were not the best quality, but a good resource for those interested in the subject.

Flagged

brittaniethekid | 2 other reviews | Jul 7, 2022 |

The Portable Obituary: How the Famous, Rich, and… by Michael Largo

This was a very interesting read! I love how Largo gives a lot of historical facts and backgrounds, but then incorporates his twisted sense of humour into every entry. I loved How We Die and loved this one. I can't wait to read his third book of this genre.

Flagged

brittaniethekid | 3 other reviews | Jul 7, 2022 |

See More Reviews