That Book [Hardcover]

Mitch Symons (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 3, 2003

Did you know THAT: Nicholas Parsons' GP father delivered Margaret Thatcher? Elvis Costello's father sang the 'I'm a Secret Lemonade Drinker' jingle for R. White's lemonade? Bob Marley's father was white and Liverpudlian? or THAT: The Hawaiian alphabet has only twelve letters? Stewardess is the longest word typed with only the left hand? The word 'bigwig' derives from the time of Louis XIV of France, who used to wear a big wig? WELL, YOU DO NOW! That Book is quite unlike anything you have ever read. Frighteningly addictive and almost entirely useless information is packed onto every page - once you dip in you'll be hooked for hours ...

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mitchell Symons was born in 1957 in London and educated at Mill Hill School and the LSE, where he studied just enough law to get a Third. Since leaving BBC TV, where he was a researcher and then a director, he has worked as a writer, broadcaster and journalist. He was a principal writer of early editions of the board game Trivial Pursuit and has devised many television formats. Currently he writes an award-winning weekly column for the Sunday Express.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Transworld Hardbacks (November 3, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0593052404
• ISBN-13: 978-0593052402
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,202,295 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gee; I didn't know that!, May 8, 2007

By 

J. Guild (Toronto,Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: That Book: ...of Perfectly Useless Information (Paperback)

This little tome does an excellent job of what it proposes to be.
There is no way to tell exactly how many little facts that you will find in this gem of "useless" information;but there has got to be a thousand or more.. Facts are facts,and information is information;but who is to say what is "useful" and what is "useless"?
There is absolutely no crireria as to what should be included or excluded in a book like this. I guess, the one point that is important ,is that it is a factual bit of informtion. It is a great book for someone who has little or no attention span,someone who loves trivia,someone who likes to throw in a comment when someone else is doing all the talking and thinks they know it all. Absolutely nobody can know everything in the book and it is highly unlikely that anyone would know even 1% of what is contained between its covers.
A check of the Book Stats showed that the book has a Fog Index of 15.2. That is a surprisingly high Index for a book that is so simple to read and understand. I would have guessed it was 4 or 5.
A great little book to leave around for anyone from the age of 7 to 107 to kill a little time. It can be picked up,opened at any page and start reading.
Here's just a sampling of the kind of stuff you'll find here;

"Pricilla Presley became a mother again after becoming a grandmother."

"111,111,111 X 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321"

"Hijinks is the only word with three dotted letters in arow."

"Rod Stewart was a gravedigger before becoming famous."

"Elton John's real name is Reginald Dwight."

"Marilyn Monroe overcame a stammer."

"Tony Curtis served in the U.S. Navy in the Paciic,where he witnessed
the Japanese surrender."

"President George Bush was the U.S. Navy's youngest- ever fighter pilot.
He flew fifty-eight missions and was once shot down and rescued.He won
5 medals."

"Milke Love,Pancho Villa and Zsa Zsa Gabor each married 9 times outdoing Elizabeth Taylor (twice to the sameman),Mickey Rooney,Alan Jay Lerner and Artie Shaw;who each married 8 times."

"The elephant is the only mammal that can't jump;but is the only animal other than humans that can stand on its head.

"The most shoplifted book in the U.S. ...The Bible."

So, there you go, bet 'ya didn't know that;and the book is filled with just such earth shattering info.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't believe the others, April 9, 2007

A Kid's Review

This review is from: That Book: ...of Perfectly Useless Information (Hardcover)

Wow, a lot of these reviews are wrong. I'm not a kid, nor do I want to reveal my name on the internet. This book is so good at, well, "perfectly useless information." If people don't want to know the average person swallows 8 spiders in their lifetime, they don't have to but this book. I couldn't put it down, most of it is about celebrity stuff, but there is a lot of other good info. i got it for $9.99 at borders but this amazon price is unbeatable, buy all 3 and you can almost reach free shipping. They're definitely worth it, I couldn't put it down.

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, September 22, 2011

By 

hrg - See all my reviews

This review is from: That Book: ...of Perfectly Useless Information (Hardcover)

Nice collection of facts and trivia. I enjoyed thumbing through it and learning things I didn't know or even knew I didn't know.