Books Item ID: #107The Book of General IgnoranceProduct Information:
Item DescriptionThink 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. Misconceptions, misunderstandings, and flawed facts finally get the heave-ho in this humorous, downright humiliating book of reeducation based on the phenomenal British bestseller. Challenging what most of us assume to be verifiable truths in areas like history, literature, science, nature, and more, The Book of General Ignorance is a witty “gotcha” compendium of how little we actually know about anything. It’ll have you scratching your head wondering why we even bother to go to school. Revealing the truth behind all the things we think we know but don’t, this book leaves you dumbfounded about all the misinformation you’ve managed to collect during your life, and sets you up to win big should you ever be a contestant on Jeopardy! or Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Besides righting the record on common (but wrong) myths like Captain Cook discovering Australia or Alexander Graham Bell inventing the telephone, The Book of General Ignorance also gives us the skinny on silly slipups to trot out at dinner parties (Cinderella wore fur, not glass, slippers and chicken tikka masala was invented in Scotland, not India). Thomas Edison said that we know less than one millionth of one percent about anything : this book makes us wonder if we know even that much. You’ll be surprised at how much you don’t know! Check out THE BOOK OF GENERAL IGNORANCE for more fun entries and complete answers to the following : How long can a chicken live without its head? What do chameleons do? Who invented champagne? How many legs does a centipede have? How many toes has a two-toed sloth? How many penises does a European earwig have? Which animals are the best-endowed of all? What is a rhino’s horn made from? Who was the first American president? What were George Washington’s false teeth made from? What was James Bond’s favorite drink? Item Reviews5 Responses to “The Book of General Ignorance”Leave a Reply |
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I had give this book General Ignorance as a gift to my friend on hes birthday ,
he like it and said that is a very nice gift,I cant tell much because I had no read yet..
This is a great book with tons of great random information. Definitely a good buy.
I may not be the next Ken Jennings upon finishing this book, but it’s possible I could stand a reasonable chance to win a few bucks should I ever appear on a trivia-based game show. Short, witty, and cleverishly devil- wait, that’s not right. Whatever. The Book of General Ignorance is a perfect book to test the contents of your brain to see what floats…and if it floats, it should be flushed. (Too gross an analogy? Sorry.) To be honest, since I have a trivial brain (and, yes, I mean every word of that), I actually knew quite a few of the tidbits presented within the book, although if someone had asked me to name them directly, the most intelligible answer they would’ve received would’ve been something along the lines of, “Um, wait, I know who/what/where/when that is, I just can’t quite remember. I definitely know it’s not who/what/where/when you think it is. Give me a minute, ‘kay?” (At least that’s a more coherent response than if I actually did appear on a game show; with the glare of the bright lights and glittering eyes of a studio audience, I would be reduced to a quivering mass unable to say anything more than “Durumdedumyoupdedoodleedoododulawhat?” Or something equivalent.) However, there were enough surprises sprinkled throughout the entries to have me gasping out a “No way!” every few pages.
For a quick read or as something to scan in between reading projects, The Book of General Knowledge is a perfect book for that most entertaining of past times, that of stuffing your brain with useless information (and risking the possibility of losing important information along the way) just to whip out said trivia to entertain your friends. Hey, it makes for great fun at parties! Especially when you start drooling and can’t remember your own name…but at least you know how many penises a European earwig has. (Curious to know how many too? Read the book to find out.)
This is a family favorite. I’ve even given this as a gift to people who “have everything”. It is a great conversation starter and a fun read. I would highly recommend it.
The tallest mountain is Mauna Kea in Hawaii from base to tip but some of it is below sea level so the highest mountain is Everest from sea level to tip. Henry VIII has 2 wives, his other 4 marriages were annulled. The most dangerous animal that ever lived is the mosquito, having killed an estimated 45 billion humans since we’ve been around. Hitler was not a vegetarian whose favourite dish was Bavarian sausage and who was not an atheist but a catholic.
Who invented champagne? The steam engine? The telephone? Where does ring a ring of roses come from? Who blew the nose off the Sphinx? What has a 3 second memory? How do lemmings die?
I’ll stop there but if any of the above tickles your fancy, you’ll love this book. Full of amazing facts disproving a lot of the common knowledge we take for granted, and written up very clearly by John Lloyd, this is a fantastic read and great for conversations. Some will say it’s a bog book but I found myself taking it out of the bathroom and continue reading it until I was finished. Great stuff, highly recommended.