Encyclopedias, being time-sensitive, are the most ephemeral of imposing objects. Soon enough, they become quaint, fussy, outdated, wrong. For the right reader, though, there is pleasure in wrongness, which is one of the theories behind Christopher Miller’s new book. The encyclopedic “American Cornball” arrives both outdated and in its ideal form: It’s a peculiar, enlightening book, an investigation of trivia, a strange history of American life from 1900 through 1966 (Miller’s self-imposed limit), and (as all single-author reference books are), a document of obsession.Read full article >>