The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody

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Will Cuppy

Humor

Jul 31, 2018

In the annals of American humor, Will Cuppy deserves a chapter all his own, but, with characteristic caginess, he instead lurks among the annotations, now and then emerging to cast a jaundiced squint at the passing parades of history and nature. His parting shot was fittingly titled The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody. From the Egypt of the pharaohs to the Athens of Pericles, from Hannibal and his elephants to Attila and his Huns, from merrie olde England to the shores of America, Cuppy enters the lists of history and returns unimpressed. His tour of the past is conducted without reverence, awe, or wonder, and his deadpan narrative cuts women (Lady Godiva, Lucrezia Borgia, and Madame du Barry) and men (Henry VIII, Philip II of Spain—“Philip the Sap” to our distinguished author—Columbus, Montezuma, and Miles Standish) down to size with equal comic zeal.

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DeAnn Rossetti

Oct 28, 2018

My parents had a copy of this book that I kept hold of for decades. It was a fan favorite at our house with my parents and myself.

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