Customer Reviews

The Straight Dope

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The Straight Dope books are some of the best trivia books out there today - they cover all sorts of odds and ends from animals, media, sports to other abnormal oddities.

Cecil Adams began his quest for truth in 1973 by accepting letters from the Teeming Millions (as he calls his readers) at the Chicago Reader and his been answering bizzare trivia questions ever since. Cecil has stuck around due to his irrevrant sense of humor and willingness to answer just about anything the public can throw his way. His column is currently seen in more than 30 newspapers throughout the United States and Canada but his books are must haves!

The Straight Dope is the first in the grouping and covers all sorts of inane topics such as: What does the 'H' stand for in Jesus H. Christ? Why do pigeons bob their heads? Is it true what they say about Catherine the Great and the horse? Why is there no Channel One?

and so on... buy this book and you will be the envy of all your friends - or at least you will be on your way to becoming King or Queen of all useless knowledge. This book makes a great gift (I would know as I tend to buy it for friends) or can be useful for great party chatter!

Ever ask yourself questions, seemingly silly ("What if...", "How does...", or "Hmmm... you know...") that you think are interesting but will never be answered? Sure you do. Well, THEY ARE ANSWERED IN THIS BOOK. Most of them anyway. Tons of questions of this type are answered in this book with humorous and insightful commentary from the one and only Cecil Adams. I personally have spent many, many hours wading through the vast Straight Dope archives. Pick up this book and you will probably do the same. If you a person who wonders about slightly off-kilter, perhaps unscientific topics, then this book is for you, it'll be a Godsend. The various sequels are good, if not quite on this one's level. Pick them up if you get addicted, but definately start here. Highly reccommended.

I first got this book at a local Borders and was amazed at its interesting explanations and addicting prose.

The books seems average enough. Its 420 pages long divided into different sections. Pretty tame and normal. But the content is far from it.

The premise is also simple. Cecil Adams a pseudonym for an unknown person who I personally believe is Ed Zotti. The people send in questions and he answers them. But these are real questions. The kind that the average person thinks about or nulls about. The kind of questions that involve physics and sports and just plain out little riddles that we think about and never really received the answer to.

Whats great is the intersting level and way that Cecil writes the answeres in. He writes so funny that I found myself laughing OUTLOUD which I usually never do. The questions are also answered not given some dumb explanation which no dumby could understand. Accompanied with the book are little cartoonsih pictures that are ok.

Cecil is a national resource and i am glad that I got to know his books. They are fun and certaintly not boring as a lot of others can be. I recommend for the child (11 to 16) Know It All which is also quite entertaining. Buy this book for a laugh and YOU SHALL GET IT!

The Straight Dope is wonderful reading for anyone with a curious mind. If you ever had a teacher who was rough, rude, and completely arrogant, and you still liked him, then you'll love this book, as well as all of the others in the Straight Dope series.

First of all let me tell you Cecil Adams' work is not for impressionable people. He is quite outspoken and spits out things in some straightforward and perhaps rude way.
If that's ok for you and you are interested in trivia things, then I reccommend this book to you.
This is the very first book of his set of 4 and covers most of the most interesting articles appeaered on his column at the Chicago Reader since 1973.
Cecil is an eccentric guy who claims to be the "smartest" guy who knows it all around the world. its said he has devoted a whole house to compile and archive articles and data of various aspects deriving from Biology to Laws.
Tip: you can find most of his articles on line, and it wouldn't be a bad idea to read a couple of them first and find out your likeness for his way of writing.

"The Straight Dope" is, hands down, without question, the best source for intelligent trivia out there. Cecil Adams's column, and his books, are more interesting and more entertaining than I can possible do justice do in a dashed-off Amazon review. Suffice it to say though, that Adams makes even subjects you thought you had no interest in fascinating, and as he does so he presents a very amusing persona as well.
Please, please, ignore those lame, lame books like "Why Do Men Have Nipples?" and go straight to this instead. The strangest questions are asked and answered here, with numerous fascinating digressions, and the illustrations by Slug Signorino are often hilarious as well. Put this book in your bathroom, and the odds are good you'll have the entire thing read in a couple of weeks.
People think they can get all the information they need from the Internet, but Adams really performs a service here with the immense amount of information he gathers and distills, the connections he makes that people not obsessed with this stuff never would, and the amusing tone he does it in.
Aside from being informative, this book is also often very, very funny. It's a nice glimpse into just how strange and complex the world can be, and a good read for anyone with an inquisitive mind.

If you haven't had the pleasure of reading Cecil Adams, for the love of pete, buy this book. I first found this book when I was 12 years old, and I gotta say, it gave me a great jumpstart on life. Everything from how to effectively kill disgusting insects to... shall we say, the more raucous and salacious aspects of the world. Politics, science, the occult, history, urban legends (by the way, that Myth show on Discovery is totally based on the Straight Dope books!)... so much to learn, so little time! Unca Cec always entertains with his wicked sense of humor as well.

I read all three of Cecil Adams' STRAIGHT DOPE books during a 2 1/2 week period last summer and I never felt smarter. Halfway through the first I was already looking forward to the next two.
I cannot tell you how many times I have shared facts from these three masterpieces along with whole-hearted recommendations.
If you think you still have more to learn in life or you have a friend who thinks s/he knows it all, you could do no better than THE STRAIGHT DOPE.
One last note: The next two editions are slated for release in 1998 and 2000. I'll be the first one at the bookstore on the days they come out.

The straight dope used to be a TV show years ago. Cecil would answer questions, just as the book. I've always enjoyed these books, from junior high to now. They're informative and the answers provided to the questions are pretty quirky and entertaining.

The first and best Straight Dope collection. I became familiar with Cecil's column by benefit of an area rag that was reprinting the columns illegally under someone else's name. Any idiot knew this sort of research wasn't coming out of Jackson, TN. When I eventually found the genuine article, I was a hooked reader for life.

The guide to exterminating cockroaches is a highlight.