The Theory of Everything Else
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- USD 15.99
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- USD 15.99
Publisher Description
This is not a book of facts; it’s a book of ‘facts’. Should you finish it believing we became the planet’s dominant species because predators found us too smelly to eat; or that the living bloodline of Christ is a family of Japanese garlic farmers – well, that’s on you.
Why are we here? Do ghosts exist? Did life on Earth begin after a badly tidied-up picnic? Was it just an iceberg that sank the Titanic? Are authors stealing their plotlines from the future? Will we ever talk to animals? And why, when you’re in the shower, does the shower curtain always billow in towards you?
We don’t know the answers to any of these questions. But don’t worry, no matter what questions you have, you can bet on the fact that there is someone (or something) out there, investigating it on your behalf. From the sports stars who use cosmic energy to office plants investigating murders, The Theory of Everything Else will act as a handbook for those who want to think differently.
About the author
Dan Schreiber is an author, podcaster and presenter who has made a career out of combining interesting facts with comedy. He is the co-host of the UK’s most streamed podcast, No Such Thing As A Fish, which has been downloaded over 400 million times. He also co-hosts The Cryptid Factor podcast, and is co-creator of the Rose d’Or award-winning BBC Radio 4 panel show The Museum of Curiosity. He lives in London and has no idea what he believes anymore.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
No Such Thing as a Fish podcaster Schreiber debuts with a humorous survey of bizarre "speculations, beliefs and claims, begging to be accepted as truths." Contending that "pretty much everyone in the world" believes their own "bit of batshit," Schreiber documents Nancy Reagan's consultations with an astrologer on Cold War negotiations, tennis star Novak Djokovic's pilgrimages to ancient Bosnian pyramids purported to emit cosmic energy, and more. Even NASA has been convinced by unlikely theories, and once funded the research of a neuroscientist who aimed to establish human-to-dolphin communication. While Schreiber's anecdotes don't offer much more than entertainment value, readers will be charmed by his colorful narration and clear enthusiasm for the hypocrisies of human beliefs, including continued popular fixations with 16th-century "seer" Nostradamus, despite his predictions' "jaw-droppingly low hit rate," and intractable Bermuda Triangle superstitions ("the number of ships and planes that go missing there is pretty much the same percentage as anywhere else in the world"). This will delight anyone looking for dinner conversation fodder who doesn't mind raising a few eyebrows.
