13: The Story of the World's Most Popular Superstition

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Summary: A lively survey of the quirky foundations of the number 13
Review: Blend fine historical insights with a fun survey of present-day phobic reactions to the number 13 from the stock market to missing skyscraper floors, and you have Nathaniel Lachenmeyer's 13: The Story Of The World's Most Popular Superstition, a lively survey of the quirky foundations of the number 13, which considers 13 unlucky 13s from 13 perspectives in 13 chapters. Uncovering superstition's origins assumes a lively theme, right down to the book's quirky price, resulting from an unusual add in digits.


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Summary: A definitive volume
Review: I can understand some of the obsession around a particular number, since the college I attended has a longtime fascination with "47", and alumni use the number as a way to secretly identify each other. Nathaniel Lachenmeyer's "13", even at a manageable 200 pages, is a very thorough encyclopedia on the number 13. It's filled with facts, history, anecdotes, and period illustrations. I enjoyed reading it. Sometimes I just opened it to different pages and learned new things. It turns out there's an actual word to describe a morbid fear of the number 13: "Triskaidekaphobia". And I always wondered why none of the hotels in New York have a 13th floor (well, except for the Waldorf-Astoria, apparently). You'll have to read the book to find out for yourself why that is. "13" is a pleasant, interesting read, and a great gift.

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Summary: In my book, 13 is a lucky number!
Review: Mr Lachenmeyer has written a very interesting and fascinating book about the number 13, and it will be read widely around the world, especially in countries and cultures which do not understand why the Western world is so afraid of the number. In my own family, we were taught by our father to see 13 as a positive number rather than an unlucky number, because Pops was born on August 13, 1915, and he taught all us kids to perceive 13 as a good number. So we did. Brainwashing works. I still find the number 13 to be a charming, loving warm number, and thanks to Mr Lachenmeyer (whose name has almost 13 letters, but not quite!) for turning his fixation into a great book for the entire world to enjoy.

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Summary: SURPRISES ABOUT 13
Review: This book is chock full of surprising historical and contemporary information on people's beliefs and feelings about the number 13. One of the first surprises is that, in addition to people who are afraid of 13, there are people who have equally strong positive reactions. Mr. Lachenmeyer gives us a charming history of Thirteen Clubs whose members, many of them influential, met over dinner specifically to flout superstitions, including those about the number 13. Fear of 13 is often associated with the history of Christianity, and the book describes the role of 13 in the Last Supper and in the story of the Knights Templar. A section dealing with contemporary beliefs about the Templars will be of interest to devotees of Dan Brown.

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Summary: Why hasn't this book been published before?
Review: Unlucky 13 is a superstition that has been with us for a long, long time. So why has it taken a long, long time for our writers to finally ask the question: where did Unlucky 13 come from? Fortunately Nathaniel Lachenmeyer not only dares to ask the question but also shrewdly proceeds to answer it and explain the myth's development from a variety of alternate perspectives: religious, psychologial, educational, social, etc. You can tell this is a guy who doesn't mind getting his hands dirty--he willingly digs through old newspaper clippings and obscure books that are centuries old, in search of historical clues that pinpoint the legend of unlucky 13. One of the most redeeming qualities of this book is the amount of work the writer has obviously put into the delivery of a quality product. I had no idea (before reading 13) that one origin of the superstition was The Last Supper (Jesus and his 12 disciples) or that a popular social club in the early 20th century was created for the sole purpose of debunking the myth of Unlucky 13 at a dinner table (the details of which I shall leave to your reading.) Mr. Lachenmeyer also reveals a gift for recognizing nuance. "Friday, the 13th" as listed in an early 20th century edition of the New York Times eventually becomes a few years later "Friday the 13th" (without a comma!) revealing a subtle but very real hint of how popular perception of that day changed in a short time. You can do worse with your time than put yourself in Mr. Lachenmeyer's talented hands. His attention to detail, his perceptive intelligence and reverberating eagerness to reseach the heck out of "13" and get to the bottom of this popular superstition help create a reading experience that will leave you satisified, entertained and in possession of a great topic for your next dinner-time conversation. Well done!