The Book of General Ignorance
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4.1 • 43 Ratings
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A shockingly counterintuitive book of trivia that cuts through the misconceptions that most of us call “facts” to show how wrong we are about . . . well, everything.
“Trivia buffs and know-it-alls alike will exult to find so much repeatable wisdom gathered in one place.”—The New York Times
Think Magellan was the first man to circumnavigate the globe, baseball was invented in America, Henry VIII had six wives, Mount Everest is the tallest mountain? Wrong, wrong, wrong, and wrong again.
Challenging commonly held assumptions in areas like history, literature, science, nature, and more, The Book of General Ignorance is a witty “gotcha” compendium of verifiably true answers to seemingly easy questions, like:
Who was the first American president?
Peyton Randolph.
How long can a chicken live without its head?
About two years.
How many legs does a centipede have?
Not a hundred.
How many toes does a two-toed sloth have?
It’s either six or eight.
Check out The Book of General Ignorance for fun entries and complete answers to these and many more questions. You’ll be surprised at how much you don’t know!
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
If you think you're a trivia expert, British TV men Lloyd (producer of the hit comedy shows Spitting Image and Black Adder) and Mitchinson (writer for Quite Interesting) may disabuse you of the notion that you're a true scholar of random facts-and quickly. Their surprisingly lengthy tome is jam-packed with real answers to a number of less-than-burning questions-camels store fat, not water, in their humps; only five out of every 100,000 paper clips are used to clip papers; the first American president was in fact Peyton Randolph-that you nevertheless may be embarrassed to have completely wrong. Although some of the entries rely on technicality more than actual excavation of obscure fact (Honolulu is technically the world's largest city, despite the fact that 72% of its 2,127 square miles is underwater), these page-length entries prove entertaining and informative, perfect for trivia buffs and know-it-alls; it also makes a fine coffee table conversation piece and a handy resource for prepping clever cocktail party banter.
Customer Reviews
Excellent compilation of misconceptions
One thing I can guarantee for any reader is that you will learn something new from this book. What I found most appealing was that the questions were not just answered, rather, they were contextualized. This includes the origins of the misconceptions along with the reasons that the myths carried on through time.
This book is a compilation, not a story, so you can skip questions if the topic does not interest you. The questions span across a wide number of fields including: historical, science, religion, culture, and more. If you enjoy learning and knowing cool facts, I would definitely recommend this book.
Interesting
Very interesting reading.