I received a review copy of Santa vs. Satan by Jake Kalish. At first I dismissed it, just like I always used to flip rights past the spreads in Wizard asking whether Batman would beat Wolverine in a fight. (And just like I keep speeding right past information on the DC/Mortal Kombat game.) However, Kalish, who has written for Playboy, Details and a bunch of other magazines actually did something clever - - he asked lots of people their opinion, ranging from bloggers like Will Leitch (formerly of Deadspin), to genuine experts. For example, here's what Jim Nelson, author of Benedict Arnold's Navy had to say about Judas vs. Benedict Arnold:
Arnold would appear to a safe bet. He was, after all, a soldier, a professional fighter. Judas was a ... well, we don't really know what Judas was. Which is too bad, because it could make a difference. If he was a fisherman, like Peter, he might have been a pretty tough hombre, hauling all those nets all day. If he was a tax guy, like Paul (Paul was a tax guy, wasn't he?), then Judas was probably a pretty wimpy guy, and A.D. 31 version of a guy who works at the Department of Motor Vehicles. In any event, we know Arnold was short, burly, and damned tough. He was shot twice, had his leg crushed by a horse, and married a woman half his age and lived to tell about it all. As for Judas, one little setback and he runs off and hangs himself. That shows a serious weakness of character. As a professional historian, my thirty pieces of silver are on Benedict Arnold.
That's actually pretty interesting information. In a nutshell, if you enjoy reading the news/history articles in Maxim, then you'll enjoy this book. It's available at Amazon.
*If you'd like to know more about my taste in books, then peruse the Amazon widget in the sidebar.
