Customer Reviews:
 A little trepidation at first March 31, 2006
viktor_57 (Fairview, Your Favorite State, USA)
42 out of 120 found this review helpful
I am a brain fitness fanatic, performing daily strengthening, stretching, focusing, and cleaning rituals to keep the old noodle in top shape. I saw this title "Mental Floss" while browsing the magazine section of Amazon.com and immediately panicked, because here was a brain-improvement technique I was unfamiliar with that seemed to be well-reviewed by the cognoscenti.
The more I thought about mental floss, the more I realized it just made sense. Sure, polishing and buffing helps keep the convolutions shiny and smooth, but what about all the fissures and sulci? And what better way is there to get into all those folds and ridges than to use floss? Thus I was determined that the next time I cleaned out my head I would floss my brain.
After carefully removing my skull-cap and peeling back the arachnoid membrane, I stared at the gleaming beige-grey mass of my exposed brain, pulled out about two feet of floss, and got to work on the great longitudinal fissure that divides the hemispheres of my brain. I figured this was the best place to start since it was relatively straight and would therefore more easily accommodate the floss. I gently scraped the internal surface of first my left, and then my right cerebral hemisphere, being careful not to scrape too deeply, lest I sever my corpus callosum and give myself an inadvertent hemispherectomy! Unlike tooth flossing, where sensitive gums serve as a warning from flossing too deeply, the brain, having no sensory apparatus, feels nothing, so a light touch is a must. Next I tackled the right superior frontal sulcus above my right eye and carefully worked the floss into the curved groove. I must have used a little too much pressure because the left side of my face became slack and I began cursing uncontrollably. I shifted the floss to better accommodate the curves and the swearing stopped, but I must have pinched a long-term memory engram because I suddenly started screaming "Mary had a little lamb", something I haven't recited since preschool.
I finished off the rest of my brain using strategically positioned mirrors to get clear views of my parietal and occipital lobes, although adjusting to the reversed mirror images required some practice; I lost my vision more than once cleaning out the occipital gyri--not a good thing to happen when cleaning out ones brain.
My brain felt refreshed after that thorough cleaning, but the difficulty in flossing such a convoluted and delicate surface would make everyday flossing impractical. At most, I would only be able to floss once every few days. Imagine my surprise, then, when I received my first issue of "Mental Floss" and found nothing in it whatsoever about flossing ones brain. Instead, I found articles and informational tidbits ranging from the very topical to the curious to the "haven't you always wondered" variety. Though chagrined at my own misunderstanding, I came to enjoy and anticipate each eclectic and oddly informative issue. I also came to realize that my brain cleaning was probably not needed and potentially harmful. I can therefore give my fullest recommendations to "Mind Floss" and at the same time caution against actual brain flossing.
Be patient, it's worth the wait...... May 17, 2004
James L. Kaufman (Denver, CO, USA)
39 out of 44 found this review helpful
For the disgruntled reviewer, when you order through Amazon.com it takes longer to reach the publisher. Amazon.com does state it will be 12-16 weeks, to receive your first magazine after you order. If you ordered in March, chances are you'll start with the June/July issue, as the publication is a bimonthly. Sometimes the double month's issue i.e. June/July is referred to as July. I'm betting you'll start with that issue. There may be some confusion, as far as when you are starting, as compared to what issue you are starting with.I have been a subscriber for a while, & expect the June/July issue to arrive towards the end of May, if the schedule remains the way it's been previously. The magazine, as well as the customer service is superior by far. Give it a chance, I'm sure you'll be "VERY PLEASED" in the long run. I've renewed my subscription up to the year 2007, I enjoy the magazine so much! Trust me, once you start receiving it, you'll be delighted!
Quick mental jolts to keep your brain entertained December 16, 2006
Lisa Shea
39 out of 42 found this review helpful
There are magazines you read for specific how-to texts, like how to fix your kitchen sink. There are magazines you read to stay up to date with the latest news in the world, your field, or a given region. Then there are magazines like Mental_Floss, which is more like a "News of the Weird" magazine version release. These aren't brain puzzles to improve your memory a la Brain Age. They aren't research pieces that will test or challenge your mental ability. Instead, they are quirky factoids.
What is yelling "Geronimo" all about? Just what is a "Vegemite Sandwich"? There are all sorts of odd things covered here. Sometimes they touch on science, world politics or human relations - but often they're related to pop culture, the things you hear every day and never really thought about.
It's intriguing that how you react to this magazine is probably based a lot on what you have read until now. If what you've been reading has been mainstream newspapers aimed at the "lowest common denominator", or the Dummies series of books, you'll be greatly refreshed by this! This magazine doesn't assume you're a dummy with a dead brain. It assumes you want to learn, to grow, to find out the "why" behind the things in your world. It's aimed for people who pop onto Wikipedia when they hear about a new, interesting item on the news ... or people who jump onto IMDB to see what else an actor was in when they watch a movie. It's for people who are intrigued by those connections and backgrounds.
On the other hand, Mental_Floss generally provides a surface read. It's the perfect bathroom magazine - but for those who already get mentally challenging magazines, they might be let down by a magazine that is explicitly named Mental_Floss. This doesn't provide in depth or rigorous details on anything. If the academic magazines are at college level, Mental_Floss is more like the fun high school underground newsletter that tackles intriguing issues that might otherwise be ignored. Now, before you start to clamor that most newspapers write at a 5th grade level, that is in fact untrue! Here's a factoid for you :) The New York Times writes at a 12th grade level of vocabulary and comprehension, while most other newspapers fall between 9th and 10th grade. The 5th grade stat came from the 1700s and 1800s.
Still, every magazine has its target audience and its purpose in life. Mental_Floss isn't there to provide in depth education. There are other magazines for that. Instead, it gives you great tidbits on things that many people care about - things that are *super* to use at cocktail parties, networking events, dinners out with your boss or employees. Instead of getting into a discussion about religion or politics, and perhaps starting the third world war, you can give info on a topic that will intrigue most people there, and often impress them.
Definitely a magazine that just about every age group will enjoy - and that is very "useful"! If I have a real issue with this magazine, it's that it only comes out every other month. It'd be great if they could get this onto a monthly schedule, with more intriguing facts to keep us fresh and full of new information.
 THE BEST REVIEW YOU'LL EVER READ July 26, 2006
Monika Plume (Cincinnati OH)
37 out of 215 found this review helpful
dO not order MENtle floss Magazin. it preetends to be sMart but It's just a teaz. Covers intersting toppics, aks good qestions but the ansers are lackng. Each issu has half a page of corections frm the preevius issu. whats the point of reeding a mag whitch promises to mak you smarter if its not so clevver itself? Like ths revue, it dosn't live upto it's claims.
 Where am I? November 5, 2005
Dr. Mary Fox (Baltimore)
36 out of 49 found this review helpful
Of course it's meant to be a collection of bits and pieces to wake-up those synapses - so the scattered format shouldn't be a surprise - but it is. Disorder is no problem for me - I have a high tolerance for ambiguity. So think about what kind of floss you're seeking - content brainteasers or process challenges(readability). This gives some of both. Content: Some articles are pretty ordinary - stuff most people know already - but other tidbits are in depth additions thst are new and fun for any trivia hound. As for readability: It takes a lot of concentration to find your way through each page-let alone the whole magazine. I will continue to subscribe, but I do wish they would string together just a few of those loose ends which serve not to 'floss'the brain but instead to burn out the reader's neurosynaptic connections.
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