Buying Options

Kindle Price:	$5.99
Sold by:	HarperCollins Publishers Price set by seller.

You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.

Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

There was an error. We were unable to process your subscription due to an error. Please refresh and try again.

Enter a promotion code or Gift Card

Share <Embed>

Follow the Author

William Poundstone

Big Secrets Kindle Edition

by William Poundstone (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

35 ratings

See all formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$5.99

—

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$1.81

$23.41

$1.81

Paperback

"Please retry"

$10.98

$8.95

$1.27

The Book That Gives the Inside Story on Hundreds of Secrets of American Life --Big Secrets.

Are there really secret backward messages in rock music, or is somebody nuts? We tested suspect tunes at a recording studio to find out.

What goes on at Freemason initiations? Here's the whole story, including -- yes! -- the electric carpet.

Colonel Sanders boasted that Kentucky Fried Chicken's eleven secret herbs and spices "stand on everybody's shelf." We got a sample of the seasoning mix and sent it to a food chemist for analysis.

Feverish rumor has it that Walt Disney's body was frozen and now lies in a secret cryonic vault somewhere beneath the Pirates of the Caribbean exhibit at Disneyland. Read the certified stranger-than-fiction truth.

Don't bother trying to figure out how Doug Henning, David Copperfield, and Harry Blackstone, Jr., perform their illusions. Big Secrets has complete explanations and diagrams, nothing left to the imagination.

Print length

232 pages
Language

English
Publisher

HarperCollins e-books
Publication date

February 22, 2011
File size

3311 KB
Page Flip

Enabled
Word Wise

Enabled
Enhanced typesetting

Enabled
See all details

William Poundstone
77
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $9.99
William Poundstone
66
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $3.99
William Poundstone
437
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $12.99
William Poundstone
210
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $13.99
William Poundstone
247
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $12.99

Create your FREE Amazon Business account to save up to 10% with Business-only prices and free shipping. Register today

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0045U9WNM
Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins e-books (February 22, 2011)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 22, 2011
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3311 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 232 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0688048307
Lending ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #623,624 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #153 in Pictorial Travel
- #452 in Travel Reference
- #885 in Trivia & Fun Facts (Books)

Customer Reviews:
35 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

William Poundstone

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

William Poundstone is the author of two previous Hill and Wang books: Fortune's Formula and Gaming the Vote.

Customer reviews

5 star		44%
4 star		19%
3 star		19%
2 star		3%
1 star		15%

How are ratings calculated?

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Kindle Customer

Outdated, but still a fascinating read

Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2021

Verified Purchase

This book was originally written in 1983, so it's nearly 40 years out of date. There was no internet, no cell phones (well, not easily accessible by the general public, at least!) etc. I remember reading it when I was a kid, and I was fascinated. At the time there was no realistic way to access any of this information. Reading it again as an adult, thirty years later... it's still pretty fascinating! After I re-read the chapter on the numbers stations, I immediately Googled to see if it was ever discovered for certain what those are. Turns out Poundstone was right -- they're used for intelligence agents to receive information. Spy stations!

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Rich M.

A great beginning to a fun series

Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2015

Verified Purchase

The first volume in William Poundstone's fun series of Big Secrets is still a fun read, even after all this time. Some of the technology-associated "secrets" in all three books are somewhat like fossils now, since these were written long before cell phones and smartphones, but there are a lot of interesting tidbits and strangeness to be perused. This one's great if you want to pull pranks on Masons, and has a lot of interesting info on secret radio stations and the like. An always interesting read.

Helpful

hazel

Big Secrets

Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2014

Verified Purchase

Interesting and fun to read. Some subjects may not thrill everyone but it's a good read for when one wants light reading.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Bernardo

Secrets about many things: eye tests, lie detectors ...

Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2014

Verified Purchase

Secrets about many things: eye tests, lie detectors, appearing to saw women in half, card tricks, marked cards, KFC formula....

Helpful

danger

well, so what? If this is educational, ...

Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2016

Verified Purchase

well, so what ? If this is educational, you've been under a rock for too long.

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2017

Verified Purchase

good

Helpful

Arthur P. Moser

hoohum

Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2013

Verified Purchase

Pretty skimpy book, very outdated, I would recommend buying later editions instead; not many surprises here for sure; too bad

Helpful

Marty Weissman

Great Transaction

Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2015

Verified Purchase

Arrived quickly and exactly as promised.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

SodaFreak

Interessant, aber in die Jahre gekommen

Reviewed in Germany on August 29, 2013

Verified Purchase

Habe mir dieses Buch für die Details über die Coca-Cola Rezeptur gekauft und wurde nicht enttäuscht. Zusammen mit 'For God, Country & Coca-Cola' bekommt man diesbezüglich einen ganz guten Überblick. Die anderen 'Secrets' sind auch interessant aber in Zeiten des Internet etwas angestaubt. Leseprobe vor Kauf empfohlen!

Translate review to English

See all reviews