I can't believe there's a book about that — Obscure topics
Who Cut the Cheese? — A Cultural History of the Fart
By Jim Dawson, Ten Speed Press, 1999, paperback
ISBN 1-58008-011-1
The latest of our series of academic histories of things you never thought somebody would publish a book about...
"Yes, it all sounds like a lot of hot air, but we are not pulling your leg (or your finger!). In Who Cut the Cheese?, the most comprehensive collection of fartlore ever compiled, author Jim Dawson blows the lid off traditional history to reveal the lingering effects of farting through the ages."
"Did you know that...
"Dinosaurs, who farted prodigiously over millions of years, probably contributed enough "greenhouse gas" to make the earth's atmosphere habitable for humans?
"A fart in Jerusalem during Passover nearly two thousand years ago led to the deaths of 10,000 people?
"Thanks to his chronic flatulance, Adolf Hitler became addicted to anti-fart pills whose toxic ingredients may have contributed to his dementia?
Well, I didn't know any of that before reading this book, but now I also know a whole lot of other fun-filled fart facts that I daren't even begin to share with you.
Very funny, but probably not a suitable present for Nana this christmas, unless she's a fan of "Barking Spider" anecdotes.
See also The Gas We Pass — The Story of Farts