PiRat: The Captain Jack Sparrow Handbook by Jason Heller

Every Friday throughout May, The Book Rat will be forcibly taken over by the PiRat, most dread rodent to appear on the high seas since Reepicheep.
Capt. PiRat will be sharing with us his take on some swashbuckling tales - because what's a rat to do in all that downtime when he's not marauding?  Read, of course...
(and drink rum. but that's a given.)

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The Captain Jack Sparrow Handbook 

Jason Heller


from Goodreads:
He’s the most popular pirate in motion picture history—and now The Captain Jack Sparrow Handbook offers his fans an insider’s guide to all the dirty tricks of the buccaneer’s trade! Complete with step-by-step instructions, helpful diagrams, and full-color photography from the Pirates of the Caribbean films, this nautical treasure trove arrrrrrrrrrrticulates such vital and colorful information as:
• How to Sail a Ship
• How to Survive Being Marooned
• How to Break a Curse
• How to Fight Six Angry Men in a Tavern
• How to Recruit a Crew
• How to Cope with Mermaids
• And much, much more!


Arriving just in time for Captain Jack’s long-awaited return in the blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, this fiendishly adventurous handbook is essential reading for pirate lovers, Johnny Depp fans, and all-around rogues and rapscallions of all ages.


The Book Rat says: 
This was a pretty fun book, mixing real pirate lore and superstition with elements from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, in a how-to style.  There are the things every pirate should know, like how to climb rigging or properly insult someone ("feculent maggot" being my personal favorite, followed closely by "salty wench").  

There are also the less expected tips on things like How to Disguise Your Gender* or How to Cope with Mermaids.


There are pictures and illustrations interspersed throughout the text, ranging from movie stills to instructional diagrams to amusing illustrations.

like this ------->

All told, I think this would make a great gift for boys (especially those who are reluctant readers) and for pirate aficiandos; it would also make for a fun quirky coffee table book, and certainly come in handy on International Talk Like a Pirate Day.  There's enough real history mixed in with quirky pirate lore to entertain most pirate fans, and the design of the book is rather nice and user-friendly, too.  


*as anyone who's seen my latest IMM would expect, I quite liked that section.  Female pirates in disguise = awesomesauce.


Final say from Capt. PiRat:
Avast! Here be a strange log indeed.  This "Jason Heller" be one scurvy dog, methinks, to whisper pirate secrets so.  
Mayhap he didn't sign the articles, or mayhap he forgot dead men tell no tales... 
Not to mention, the bilge-rat seems to 'ave left one very important piRATe off of his list o' the greatest pirates!
Don't be foolin' yerself that readin' o' this book'll make ye a pirate -
Pirates be born, not made...


[But I do be wantin' t' take another look o'er the chapter on findin' the Fountain o' Youth, truth be told...]

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Get your fill o' pirate booty o'er at vvb32 reads all month long, and make sure to stop back by next Friday for more PiRat Reads.

Treasure map for next week: