Useless Knowledge: Answers to Questions You'd Never Think to Ask [Paperback]

Joe Edelman (Author), David Samson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 14, 2002

How can your tongue get you arrested?
What dessert is as smart as the average adult?
What's louder: A jet plane at take-off or a hippo having sex?

In the form of a lively and eccentric course catalog, this brainchild of the creator of the wildly successful www.uselessknowledge.com offers up loads of facts of little consequence for the hardcore trivia buff or the casual enthusiast. Inside, you'll find topics and entries like these:

The Core Curriculum
The Useless School of Animals
The sound that a camel makes is called "nuzzing".

The Useless School of Film
Warren Beatty's first job in the theater was a rat-catcher...backstage.

The Useless School of History
Not that he was immature, but Napoleon concocted his battle strategies in a sandbox.

The Useless School of Sports
It takes 3,000 cows to supply a single season's worth of footballs to the NFL.

There are also Useless Schools of Television, Biology, Science and Technology, Music, Geography, and Culinary Arts.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Joe Edelman is the Useless-Infomaster who founded this popular website. He is an award-winning commercial, editorial, and fashion photographer. He lives in Lansdale, PA.

David Samson has written or co-written 11 books, including humorous, self-help, and autobiographical titles. He has worked as a senior creative executive at some of America's most prestigious advertising agencies. He divides his time between Beverly Hills and New York.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (September 14, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312290179
• ISBN-13: 978-0312290177
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #955,892 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Don't believe everything you read, October 29, 2002

By 

Phelps Gates (Chapel Hill, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Useless Knowledge: Answers to Questions You'd Never Think to Ask (Paperback)

This book is a fun collection of obscure "facts", but shouldn't be taken too seriously, as there are errors on almost every page. The Philco Predicta wasn't the first TV set made (it dates from 1958)... Those of us who watched Howdy Doody on NBC in 1950 will be surprised to hear that Captain Kangaroo was the first network TV kid show in 1954... Napoleon certainly didn't appoint Louis Pasteur to a committee to study food preservation for his invasion of Russia in 1812, since Pasteur was born in 1822... Nor is chi a letter of the Hebrew Alphabet.

My favorite entry is the one for the legendary Betsy Ross, alleged not only to have made the first American flag, but to have designed it (!), and to have been born with a full set of teeth in her mouth (!!).

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Read with a grain of salt, June 7, 2006

By 

E Simpson "Book Woman" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Useless Knowledge: Answers to Questions You'd Never Think to Ask (Paperback)

I got a lot of laughs from the book. The "facts" are not always true -- kind of like what you'd expect from a cocktail party flippant sort of reply. Great book for 2 truths and a lie or just for making the reader or other go "I wonder if..." and rush off to look up the information.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Don't really care for it., April 6, 2008

By 

S. Cooper (Michigan USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Useless Knowledge: Answers to Questions You'd Never Think to Ask (Paperback)

This was a gift for my husband who loves "useless knowledge." This book never seemed to captivate him and it sits on a shelf now, unread.