Customer Reviews

The Paranoid's Pocket Guide: Hundreds of Things You Never Knew You Had to Worry About

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book sits in a conspicuous semi-hidden drawer in my living room coffee table. I'm always hoping someone will open the drawer and start reading it... I think they would become completely engrossed, but would also start looking out the corner of their eyes for what might get them! Some of MY friends might break out in a cold sweat, throw down the book and go running out the door!

The pages of the book are multi-dimensional... it is designed to "trip you out." The little factoids come in fonts of multiple sizes, which is not really similar to ransom notes clipped from newspapers but elicits the same type of feeling. One of the best things about the book are the photos... even everyday objects like sponges and treadmills are made to look like fearsome devices of evil... and the captions to the pictures help. Offset well below the image as if to stand it's distance, the caption speaks out as if to whisper the name of the object in the simplest possible way: [ A SPONGE ]. Heh.

There is also what appears to be the ramblings of a hyper-paranoid person scrawled along the bottom of the pages. You have to read the book twice... once to follow that rambling from cover to cover, and once to read all the factoids. But when you are reading the factoids, you sometimes get a glimpse of the rambling. The oddness of it adds to the whole creepiness of the book.

The atmosphere of the book is similar in some respects to what a crazed private-eye type, or government agent type, would write.

...without laughing, reminising about the fact that there is someone more paranoid than me out there. The book was humorous, yet frightening all at the same time. It was the definition of sweet and sour sause...and personally it is now on my shelf of favorite works of literature.

It was a great book. There were parts of it that made me laugh and others that made me want to hide under the bed and never come out. It had a great way of tying in stuff that probably would never happen to you ( or would it) with factual stuff. I would definatly recomend buying it. Regardly of how many times you read it, it will still amaze you.

The Paranoid's Pocket Guide is a quick and easy read, and Tuttle should be congratulated for both her in-depth research into matters of trivial paranoia and her clever presentation of same. Besides the straightforward presentation of factual statements, generally one to four on a page, Tuttle has a stream-of-consciousness list of basic paranoid fears running in a continuous line along the bottom of every page.

Tuttle's Guide is more about clever presentation than it is about clever writing, but she gets full marks for creating an interesting book which is both informative and fun. And terrifying. I dare you to read it without suffering at least a few jarring re-evaluations of the world around you.

Who ever wrote this book obviously needs therapy. Despite that tragedy, I was fascinated, amused and/or appalled by all of the creepy factoids about what could happen on any given day.

A super little book by Cameron Tuttle. All your favorite phobias in 144 pages and as the back cover says...carry it at all times. What I particularly liked about the book was the excellent design by Martine Trelaun. Normally this kind of title would look deadly dull but Trelaun has used creative typography to make the whole thing sparkle.

When you get your copy don't forget to fill in the IF FOUND panel on the inside of the cover with your name, address, social security number, mother's maiden name, credit card numbers, ATM number and PIN for the ATM!

To quote Alfred E Neuman ''What, me worry?''

What do you say about a book that encourages people to get wierded out about more than they need to? Tuttle's effort is completely unlike the other things she has written, and I have to say I read the whole thing in one segment of a plane trip. Nonetheless, it kept me very entertained, and I have shared this book with several people. I banned one person from reading any further because of their reactions, but all in all, very funny to see that some people have such a good imagination.

This is one of my all time favorite books, its small and filled with all kinds of random trivia and factoids that are delightful to share. The only thing I didnt like about the book is that it ended. I loved the book and everyone whos borrowed it from me or read it off my coffee table has absolutely loved it. You will too!

I am a reading teacher at the middle school level. This has been a hit with many of my students, whom I have been reading it aloud to. Even those students who profess to hate reading love this book, and beg me to allow them to read it by themselves. Hats off to Cameron Tuttle for a great read!!

This book would be good source material for commedy script writers...and humans who believe forwarned is forarmed.You wil be very well armed with this little quick read.It is hard to put down .It is hard not to laugh loud and long.It is hard to chance ever leaving your bedroom again.