Product Description

In Hometown Revelations, you will find out how America's cities, towns, and states acquired their names. Most of the major U.S. cities are included but you will find answers why they named their town Peculiar, Happy or even Monkeys Eyebrow! In addition, you will learn how the states aquired their names. Not everybody's hometown may be included but the clues and mysteries revealed of other communities may lead you to your own revelation!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #49820 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 95 pages

Review
Ever wonder how your hometown or your ancestor's got its moniker? Find out in Hometown Revelations: How America's Cities, Towns, and States Acquired Their Names. It covers most major U.S. cities, as well as towns such as Peculiar, Happy and Monkeys Eyebrow - likely including a few places in your family history --Family Tree Magazine - July 2007 by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack p. 71

NPR Weekend Edition Saturday June 23, 2007 Whether it's Monkey's Eyebrow, Toad Suck, Bad Axe or Embarrass, guaranteed someone calls it home in America. Mark Usler has collected odd town names and the stories behind them in his book, Hometown Revelations. Interview with Linda Wertheimer www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11326864 --NPR Weekend Saturday - June 23, 2007 www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11326864

About the Author
You might be familiar with Mark. He is the author of Hometown Revelations. You may have heard Mark on a morning radio talk show or on television. He was the guy talking about how a town like Monkey's Eyebrow, KY acquired its name. If you have never heard of Mark, he's the guy along the side of the highway looking at the funny road sign or historical marker. Please don't hit him!

Customer Reviews

Fun Trivia for your next road trip!
I always wondered how that town got that funny or unusual name. A great book for your trivia friend or for the next time you take a road trip. There is a lot of interesting and humorous stories in this book.

Get an editor and a 5th grade education
Filled with grammatical errors, punctuation errors, and inanities. I LOVE this kind of book, and I have a whole shelf full of place name references. I had to put this book down after the first 15 pages or so, because it was just too painful to read. I understand that the author meant well, and obviously enjoyed his subject, but this book is yet more evidence that not everyone should be a published author.

Lightweight Fluffery
This publication reminds me of those publications you see at the counter of a Stuckey's checkout. I call it that because it's too slim to be an actual book. At 95 large-type pages its more like a thick pamphlet.

It reads like the author spent a few afternoons gleaming information from Wikipedia.com. There's no real scholarly research here and each entry is barely a paragraph long. Fine if you need something to read during a long car trip but otherwise totally unsatisfying.

I agree with the other review in that too much emphasis is placed on MO and KS. Way too much is left out. For example, how did the town of Ninety Six, S.C. get its name? Not in there.