Random Kinds Of Factness: 1001 (or So) Absolutely True Tidbits About (mostly) Everything 
asked by siriusfanboy on November 18, 2006 5:43 AM
This latest romp through history, politics, religion, and science from the dyno-duo Barrett and Mingo is sure to tickle the fancy of trivia buffs everywhere. Amuse your date, impress your boss, bore your kids, or be the 6th caller to win a pair of tickets to the nose-flute band concert! All because you know that a Twinkie in the microwave will explode in 45 seconds, that you have a 1 in 3,448,276 chance of dying from a snake bite, that 342 cases of tea were tossed into the "hahbah" during the Boston Tea Party, or that white rhinoceroses are not actually white but grey (you'll have to read the book to discover why). Barrett and Mingo, partners in life and crime (er, writing) can do a thing or two with random facts, and this book ranks right up there. From the time the Wallace family made famous books of lists of one kind or another, readers have found fascination—or maybe just food for their obsessions—in books like Random Kinds of Factness.
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Yes, you can do all these things and more with the book Random Kinds of Factness!
At 215 pages, this amusing soft cover book provides fascinating trivia tidbits on subjects like Animals, The Body, Food & Drink, History, Men & Women, Plants, Holidays, Science, Sports, Transportation and much more.
Here is a sampling of some of the fascinating tidbits found in Random Kinds of Factness:
* Professional clowns register their faces with a face registry so that no two clown faces are exactly the same.
* Undereducated presidents are not a new phenomenon. Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, and Zachary Taylor never even graduated from elementary school.
* Pigs kill more people than sharks every year.
* The Incas all had the same blood type (O+).
* Robert Lewis Stevenson wrote Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde during a six-day cocaine binge.
* Before she was a master chef, Julia child was a spy. She served in India and China during WW II.
* The term "freelancing" dates from the twelfth century when knights who lost their employment with royal houses offered themselves as mercenaries.
* Switzerland didn't allow women to vote until 1971.
* More people are injured each year on merry-go-rounds than on roller coasters.
* A simple, everyday yard mushroom can release more than one hundred million spores in an hour.
My husband and I spent several evenings reading this book cover to cover. It was a lot of fun to discover amazing trivia and share them with each other-often to much gasping and laughter. Despite the unattractive cover and one tidbit that was repeated ("Walt Disney's hobby was orchestrating model train wrecks"-pages 38 & 213), Random Kinds of Factness is a delightful trivia book that is both educational and entertaining.
At 215 pages, this amusing soft cover book provides fascinating trivia tidbits on subjects like Animals, The Body, Food & Drink, History, Men & Women, Plants, Holidays, Science, Sports, Transportation and much more.
Here is a sampling of some of the fascinating tidbits found in Random Kinds of Factness:
* Professional clowns register their faces with a face registry so that no two clown faces are exactly the same.
* Undereducated presidents are not a new phenomenon. Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, and Zachary Taylor never even graduated from elementary school.
* Pigs kill more people than sharks every year.
* The Incas all had the same blood type (O+).
* Robert Lewis Stevenson wrote Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde during a six-day cocaine binge.
* Before she was a master chef, Julia child was a spy. She served in India and China during WW II.
* The term "freelancing" dates from the twelfth century when knights who lost their employment with royal houses offered themselves as mercenaries.
* Switzerland didn't allow women to vote until 1971.
* More people are injured each year on merry-go-rounds than on roller coasters.
* A simple, everyday yard mushroom can release more than one hundred million spores in an hour.
My husband and I spent several evenings reading this book cover to cover. It was a lot of fun to discover amazing trivia and share them with each other-often to much gasping and laughter. Despite the unattractive cover and one tidbit that was repeated ("Walt Disney's hobby was orchestrating model train wrecks"-pages 38 & 213), Random Kinds of Factness is a delightful trivia book that is both educational and entertaining.
reviewed by speaker on November 23, 2006 4:01 PM