Bert Fegg's Nasty Book for Boys and Girls

Bert Fegg's Nasty Book
for Boys and Girls

The cover of Bert Fegg's
Nasty Book
(1974 edition)
Author Terry Jones and Michael Palin
Illustrator Martin Honeysett, Lolly Honeysett, Frank Bellamy, Paul Buckle
Cover artist Lolly Honeysett
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Genre Humour
Publisher Methuen
Publication date
1974
Published in English
Print (hardcover)
ISBN 0-413-32740-X
OCLC 16296623

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 psychopathic character, Dr. Fegg. In fact, the book is the work of Terry Jones and Michael Palin, 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 Palin's 1977 TV series, Ripping Yarns. 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, anarchic humour, juvenile references to bodily functions and black comedy-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 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 (A Cowboy Story), cartoonists Martin Honeysett 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 West Bromley Fighting Haddock

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

External links

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