Everything You Pretend to Know And Are Afraid Someone Will Ask

This book is very entertaining, but after I received it I was disappointed to find that it is actually 12 years old. If you aren't old enough to have a good handle on 1996 and what was happening then and what didn't exist yet, you will have trouble with a lot of the things in this book. Things about computer and other technology are often not relevant, as you may expect.However, there are many other things you will appreciate, such as finally learning the difference between a magnate, a mogul and a czar. I would recommend the book to people who were not in elementary school or earlier during the 90s and were alert enough to remember the cultural and business environment at that time.

An interesting read but it really needs to be revised as it was published in 1996; a significant amount of things have obviously occurred since then and they would greatly alter many of the passages.

When I picked up this little tome;I didn't really expect it to amount to much. As usual,I read the customer reviews,and was really left wondering.Quite a spread of opinions!
After reading,I have to say that I fully agree with those who gave it top marks.
I didn't count the things covered exactly;but there are about 45 or so. When you finish;you are going to feel there could easily be thousands of things and expressions we use all the time,without really knowing what they mean or how they came about.
An excellent little gem to lay around for people to pick up and wile away a little time. However;don't be suprised if,as the Irish so aptly put it; "it gets nicked"....oh,how I love that word!
If you think this little book is superficial, and just might not be one of the pinacles of greatness in the world of books;you may be right.But wait till you see the extensive Bibliography at the end of the book.If you think the subject of this book is minor ,just skimming through this Bibliography,will show you how little we really know of what we speak.
Here's a smattering of what to expect:

What is the legal definition of insanity?

Why are the Liberals to the "Left" and the Conservatives to the "Right"?

What is the difference between a Republic and a Democracy?

How do microwaves work?

What makes food Kosher?

How do subiminal messages work?

Did The Three Musketeers actually exist?

What pasta names go with whatpasta shapes?

If you know the answers to all these questions,you might find this book dull;but if you want to know some of what you're talking about;now's your chance!

I did learn a lot from this book and the writing style allowed me to just read straight through. I would suggest ignoring the entire section on computers though. Too much has changed since the book was written.

Don't bother, if you are half inteligent, you should know everything that's in the book, just commonsense.