When Do Fish Sleep? and Other Imponderables of Everyday Life [Paperback]

David Feldman (Author), Kassie Schwan (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 26, 1990

Another great collection of the answers to life's little mysteries, from the bestselling author of Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise?

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David Feldman is the author of Imponderables and How to Win at Just About Everything. He has a masters degree in popular culture from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Formerly in the programming department of NBC-TV, he consults and lectures on the media and writes about a wide range of popular culture.

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: HarperPerennial (September 26, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060920114
• ISBN-13: 978-0060920111
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #463,212 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #12 in Books > Education & Reference > Fun Facts > Imponderables

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining book filled with useless trivia, November 10, 2004

By 

J. E. Nelson (Plainfield, Illinois) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: When Do Fish Sleep? and Other Imponderables of Everyday Life (Paperback)

"When do Fish Sleep" is a book of "Imponderables" (a term invented by the author meaning a question that cannot be answered by conventional means of reference books, calculations, or tangible means such as measuring). An example of an imponderable is "Why don't birds tip over when they sleep on a telephone wire?" or the like the title, "When do fish sleep?"

As with any book that covers a myriad of information, there are fascinating parts and there are parts that seem to drag on. I felt some of the imponderables in the book seemed a little elementary, such as "Why is one side of a halibut dark and the other side light?" (the dark side is for camouflage and the light side is down so it does not need to be camouflaged), "What is the purpose of corn silk?" (for pollination), and "Why are bowling shoes ugly?" (so people don't steal them). Other questions were fascinating such as "Why do roaches always die on their backs?" (this is not always true, but it has a lot to do with the shape of the roach) and "Why do recipes warn us not to use fresh kiwi or pineapple in gelatin?" (the fruits contain an enzyme that break protein down). The book even has a section of "Frustables", questions where readers have mailed in theories or questions that do not yet have an answer. The author even provides a way to contact them to answer frustables or to propose new imponderables.

As a geek that likes to learn, even useless information, I enjoyed the book. However, the book had no format. I felt the book could have benefited from a table of contents or have the questions divided into related sections instead of aimlessly wander from topic to topic in the book.

If you have a friend who sits and reads the cards from a "Trivial Pursuit" game, this is definitely a book for them. I'd recommend the book for people whose joy in life is the pursuit of knowledge or a teenager/young adult that is curious about the world around them. The book is not really a thrilling read, so I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to a person who is looking for an interesting read.

While I think the content of the book was worth a solid 4 stars, I found the lack of structure in the book distracting enough to deduct a star.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Belongs in Everyone's Bathroom!!, November 1, 2003

By 

chris meesey Food Czar (The Colony, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: When Do Fish Sleep? and Other Imponderables of Everyday Life (Paperback)

One of my best friends has assembled a rather amazing library of some 200 books: quote books, trivia books, fact books, you name it. The most interesting facet of his collection is the place where it resides--in his bathroom!!! Furthermore, David Feldman's wonderful series of Imponderables books has a place of honor in his library--right next to the toilet paper! (Needless to say, he is a bachelor as of this writing!) When Do Fish Sleep? is Feldman's third book in the series, and one of the best, in that more time is spent pondering questions that people really do care about, such as: "Why do gas gauges take an eternity to go from registering full to half full, and then drop to empty in the speed of light?" (I think we've all been there!) Feldman receives most of his imponderables from readers of the previous volumes, seeks out experts in the relevent fields to answer them (In the above example, that person is Anthony H Siegel of Ametek's US Gauge Division), and prints their response. If no one expert knows the definitive answer, Feldman will print the most prevalent theories instead. There are also many charming and funny illustrations to keep the material from getting too dry. There is also a section in the back called Frustables, which deals with Imponderables that are not easily solved, and their corresponding theories. Finally, the most important feature of this and any other Imponderables book: The articles are just the right length to read when seated "upon the throne." (Well, most of them are, anyway!) So, get When Do Fish Sleep and other Imponderables books right away. Feldman's ready wit will keep you entertained and keep you from having to make that sometimes painful search for reading matter the next time nature calls!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Reading When You Have Nothing Else To Do, April 17, 2006

By 

Loyd E. Eskildson "Pragmatist" (Phoenix, AZ.) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: When Do Fish Sleep? and Other Imponderables of Everyday Life (Paperback)

Provides interesting information on a number of topics that you never realized you needed to know - like "Why do horses in an open field always seem to stand head to tail?" Then there's "Why do roaches always die on their backs?" And "Why do women in the U.S. shave their armpits?"