Enter Mr. David Mitchell’s amazing Cabinet of Curiosities and prepare to marvel at this hand-picked and lavishly illustrated compendium of incredible facts, each one painstakingly culled from the hugely acclaimed BBC Radio and Australian TV show The Unbelievable Truth. Plus—try your own truth-detection skills over a series of ingenious comic essays on a diverse range of subjects, from Armadillos to Sir Walter Raleigh, by the show’s co-inventor Dr. Graeme Garden. Each essay contains five incredible truths, tantalizingly concealed amongst a host of barely credible lies. The Unbelievable Truth is hosted by the award-winning actor, comedian, and writer David Mitchell, and was first broadcast on Radio 4 in 2006, since when it has become one of BBC Radio’s most popular and successful shows.

本書は事実と虚構が精緻に編み上げられた知的遊戯の極致です。ガーデンらの筆致は、巧妙な嘘の中に真実を紛れ込ませる「語りの技術」を芸術へと昇華させました。案内役デイヴィッド・ミッチェルと共に情報の真偽を見極める体験は、読者をスリリングな興奮へと誘います。 映像版が演者の即興性と熱量を楽しむものなら、本書は「思考の余白」が最大の魅力です。じっくり活字と向き合うことで、真実の凄みと嘘の滑稽さがより鮮明に浮かび上がります。映像の呼吸を脳内で再生しつつ、自ら探偵となり迷宮を紐解く体験は、メディアを越えた究極の相乗効果と言えるでしょう。