About Professor Max Murphy

Expert in toast that lands butter-side down. Collector of things that go wrong at the worst possible moment.

Who is the Professor?

Professor Max Murphy is a pen name – the friendly, slightly frazzled character behind the Murphy's Law Books for Children. The "Professor" is part of the fun: it's a playful persona, not an academic title.

The Professor's big idea is simple: everybody's printer breaks at the worst moment, everybody's toast lands butter-side down, and once you realise that, the bad days get a lot smaller – and a lot funnier.

The books turn those everyday disasters into "laws" that kids and teens instantly recognise, then show them how to laugh, shrug and bounce back.

What is Murphy's Law?

"Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong."

The saying is usually linked to American engineer Edward A. Murphy Jr. and aircraft testing in the late 1940s, though versions of the idea are much older. Today it's the name we give to that very specific feeling that the universe is having a joke at your expense.

Books by Professor Max Murphy

Murphy's Law for Kids

101 hilariously true rules for ages 8–12. Paperback, hardcover, Kindle and audiobook.

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Murphy's Law for Teens

101 rules for surviving school, social drama and everything that goes sideways. Kindle now; paperback coming soon.

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