Review by Robert Schmidt:

“This book is for the people who know they don’t know very much.” This comment, in the introduction of The Book of General Ignorance, sets the stage and presents the authors’ challenge. I started reading it with a “Who do they think they are fooling” attitude.

They made me a convert. This book only gets more interesting as you continue reading it.

Some of the knowledge nuggets aren’t big secrets, and in fact read as “trick questions,” like “What is the tallest mountain in the world?” The trick is, “tallest,” not “highest.” Got it? Mauna Kea in Hawaii, not Mt. Everest.

Then, what is the most dangerous animal that has ever lived? Answer? A mosquito, responsible, the authors say, for the deaths of about 45 billion humans. Of course (and they know this), one mosquito isn’t responsible for these deaths, there are many species of mosquitos, and mosquitos really don’t (directly) kill anybody.

Trick question again.

Then there were the questions that didn’t hold any surprise at all: “What is the main ingredient of air?” Answer: nitrogen.

But it got more interesting. What man-made objects are visible from the moon? None. Many are visible from “space” (a mere 60 miles above the surface of the Earth), but the moon is too far away. What is the biggest thing that a blue whale can swallow? What are violin strings made of?

There are so many questions answered, that there is something here for everybody.

This is better than Trivial Pursuit, because of the explanations given. This should be an entertaining book on CD to listen to on a long trip, and can easily be turned into a game for adults and kids.

So I started reading it with a chip on my shoulder, and the authors made me a believer. Interesting, indeed. The book just kept getting better.

And my favorite factoid? What is the longest animal alive today?

Hint… it is not a blue whale.

Review by S. Falk:

At last, the American release of what is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating books you could ever hope to delve into! Whereas most trivia books contain “facts” of dubious origin and little consequence, it’s clear that the authors of this book have gone through great pains to dig out and verify the most interesting tidbits from the realms of history, nature, science, and culture. Let’s go for a few examples (edited heavily for space; the book is far more detailed).

Q: How many words do Eskimos have for snow?

A: Actually, no more than four. Although it’s often said that Eskimos have dozens or even hundreds of words for snow, there are at most only four root-words for it, and that’s drawing from all Eskimo languages. (They do, however, have more than thirty words for demonstrative pronouns, where speakers of English only have four.)

Q: Who invented the telephone?

A: Contrary to what you’ve been taught, it was not the famous A. Graham Bell! Credit goes to Antonio Meucci, a brilliant but ailing Italian inventor, whose patent fell into the hands of Bell, a young Scottish engineer. Meucci died before his case against Bell could come to fruition.

There are hundreds of more questions to the end of fascinating and delighting the reader. However much you think you know, there will be mountains of information in here to surprise you–and that’s quite the point. In the words of co-writer John Lloyd, “This book is for the people who know they don’t know very much.” As the authors hope you will come to understand, one’s best hope in life is to recognize that one is generally ignorant, for it is simply impossible to know any but a sliver of the wealth of knowledge contained in and about the world. By admitting this, one is then motivated to ask questions that matter, for everything can be interesting when looked at in the right way . . . it’s just that most people fail to look.

But it goes further than that. “The Book of General Ignorance” is just one piece of a cultural phenomenon that has its roots in Britain. It was originally written as a textual accompaniment to the hugely-popular television show “QI”, which operates under the philosophy that curiosity–for its own sake–is worthwhile. The show is unlike anything broadcast on American screens, featuring panelists who try desperately to claw their way to the answers to questions they are posed (questions not unlike those appearing in the book). While they’re rarely correct from the off, it’s the mere delight in discovering the truth that ends up being, unfailingly, uproariously funny. The show’s a joyful celebration of the fact that questioning the world around us need not be an impenetrably erudite or boring endeavor. [...]

In the meantime, pick up this book, and once you’ve been thoroughly impressed, buy it for your friends as well. It’d make a lovely gift for birthdays and the holiday season, assured to please scholar and dilettante alike. Recommended with cherries on top.

Review by mruseless:

This book is one of dozens out there that should go in the motivation section rather than the sales section. If you need motivation, this book is great. But if you are looking for solid advice on how to improve your sales technique, don’t waste your money. The book is littered with cute phrases like “Kick your own ass”, and “the more you love it, the more you will sell”.

I bought the book because there are small nuggets of good information in it. I kept it because I know someday I will need motivation. But I quickly became tired of “Rah-Rah, I’m the best salesman ever, and you suck unless you work harder.” Don’t get me wrong, everyone could stand to work harder. But that wasn’t what I was looking for.

If you want motivation, read this book. If you want solid sales advice, read “SPIN Selling”, or “Soft Sell”.

Review by David Brown:

Mine is obviously a dissenting opinion, but I vehemently disliked this little book. As one of the previous reviewers so aptly pointed out, it is not about selling, it is about personal motivation. If you need somebody to tell you the obvious things you need to do to be a successful sales person, then this book may help you. But if you’re interested in learning about the sales process, there’s just not much here.

The bombastic and cutesy writing quality is a big put-off for me, from the numbered lists that all end in “.5″ to the use of semi-outrageous language. The author warns his readers that, “This book contains language used by real people used in real situations in sales.” I don’t know what crowd he is selling to, but I have been in sales for thirty-five years and I don’t recall anyone ever using the word “puke” in a business conversation. The author must really like that word, as he overuses it throughout the book.

My biggest disappointment was that he actually hooked me in the introduction with the concept that we really should be studying how customers buy rather than how salesmen sell. That seemed like a clever and viable to way look at the selling/buying process, but there was unfortunately no follow up on that idea throughout the remainder of the book.

If you’re trying to pump yourself up or have work ethic issues, then maybe it’s worth the purchase, but if you appreciate good writing and thoughtful analysis, don’t waste your twenty bucks.

Review by Heidi Anne Heiner:

It is hard to write reviews for Lang’s fairy tale books which are as unique as each collection. The Brown Fairy Book once again has tales from many cultures. Included tales are: How Some Wild Animals Became Tame Ones, Story of the King Who Would Be Stronger Than Fate, The Mermaid and the Boy, The Sister of the Sun, Which Was The Foolishest?, and many others. I always enjoy the illustrations, too, although some children are disappointed they are black and white drawings.

Review by Fuchsia:

A Beautifully illustrated collection of fairy tales from different cultures, its refreshing to read tales that aren’t just european. When I first bought it I was very disappointed that they weren’t the traditional French, German, and English fairy tales but after reading them I found them to be compelling and beautiful. These tales are imaginative, strange, beautiful, wistful, and gorgous. The illustrations are wonderful, they stand in a class of their own. Modern illustrators should use them as inspiration.

Review by Gregg M. Mcclelland:

This complitation was an easy read and it offered supportive evidence of general Patton’s intensity for perfection and victory.

Review by B. Bates:

General Patton has been a hero of mine for forty years, and this book still uncovered facts unknown to me.

I highly recommend this book to any teen, male or female, who expresses any interest in military matters. Further, the life practices and determination to succeed embodied by General Patton should inspire any teen. I would hope so, anyway.

Review by SHCE:

I was at the library with my father and mother when I first saw this book. I looked at all the colors and decided by pink being my favorite color. I read the whole book in gaps between 2 days and at bedtime. And I was so amazed at the mermaids, princesses, and fairies and all the wonder that a few days later I took out the orange, green, and crimson fairy book just so I could dwell in the land of fairy tales for a few more weeks! Im a young girl of fourteen, and I love fantasy stories. The Pink fairy book is my favorite because it was my first, but the whole collection are my favorites and I recomend them to boys and girls (There are plenty of stories boys would like too) and adults! (for they are just as interesting) I love art, and the pictures by H.J ford are so amazing and attractive, I stared at them for hours!

Review by :

I am a teacher and I read many stories from The Pink Fairy Book to my class. They were amazed that there were so many more wonderful fairy tales that they had never seen on cartoons. I recomend this to all teachers and parents to read to treir kids.

Review by :

Since I was studying for the GRE on a shoestring budget, I skipped the expensive test prep courses and bought this book, along with 2 others, to help me prep for the test. My initial concern when I ordered this book was that it wouldn’t be able to accurately predict what kind of score I would get on the computer based test, since the entire book is (obviously) full of paper based tests which are set up in a totally different format than the CAT. Yup, I was pretty skeptical of ETS’s claims that scores on the paper test should correlate with those of the CAT.When I finally took the GRE, I was surprised to find that my scores on the CAT were pretty close to how I had scored on the practice tests in this book. (within about a 30 point margin – the only exception was my quantitative score which was about 70 points higher on the CAT… still fairly close, though)I would recommend this book for people who are studying for the GRE themselves (without the help of prep courses) and would like to get an idea of how they might score. (Having some idea of how I might do made me less nervous about taking the real test.)Be warned though, that the soul purpose of this book is to give an indication of your possible performance: it won’t help you pinpoint where your weaknesses are or give you lists of vocab words, practice problems, etc. It is simply a book of practice tests. Be sure to buy a few other books which can isolate your weaknesses and provide practice problems on the sections you need the most help with.Good luck!

Review by Morris:

So, you want to take the GRE. You think to yourself “Gee, I should take a lot of practice tests”, so now you want to buy this book. Well, it’s somewhat helpful, but you’ll find that the real test, taken on the computer, feels much different.I had much more trouble finishing on time for the real test than I did in these practice tests- particularly for the analytical section. The questions on the real test seemed harder than these practice tests. All my friends who have recently taken the GREs and studied with practice tests agree with that, so it’s not just me. You also cant go backwards, look ahead, omit questions, or sketch notes on the paper [i usually like to draw on the diagram in the math section]Rather than paying money for this book, just go download ETS’s powerprep software. It’s free, and it has two practice tests exactly the way you’ll see them when you take it for real. Take one test, identify your weakness, study that part, take the other practice test, and then you’re ready. Besides, the GRE is so similar to the SAT, you dont need to study too much for it. In short, dont treat this as a collection of practice tests, but treat it as a collection of practice problems, and that makes it less helpful for test preparation.