Man Stealing Copper Wires Killed By Electric Shock: Schadenfreude, Baby!

"Cable thief dies due to electric shock" was a headline posted today in the Facebook feed of one of my friends. The pleasure that one takes in this ironic misfortune is Schadenfreude, which leads me to the next in the next in my series of features on past titles.

Schadenfreude, Baby was published in 2008 by Lyons Press. Sarah Lindensmith of the Midland Book Examiner described it this way:

Schadenfreude, Baby! is a hilarious light read for anyone who appreciates a little sarcasm, turning of the tables, or other laughs. The word "schadenfreude" is actually German, and means "to take pleasure in another's sorrows or downfalls." There is no English correlation to this word, so we simply stole the German word and made it our own. Schadenfreude, Baby! is a collection of short stories (usually only a paragraph or so) about someone who did something stupid, mean, or less-than-legal and then got his comeuppance in a humorous way - well, humorous for us, at least.

Before Broke is Beautiful was published, this blog was Schadenfreude themed. I created it to talk about this book. So if you think Schadenfreude is fun, go back in the archives.

For those who love ironic tumbles and people hoisted by their own petards, you can get an autographed copy of this book for just $14.95.