Book Review: The Book of General Ignorance

[bedsitter23]

The Book of General Ignorance by John Lloyd

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The Book of General Ignorance purports that everything you know is wrong which means its either because we have longtime cultural memes (like cannibals cooking people in big pots) or technically true (Mauna Kea in Hawaii is taller than Everest from base to tip but starts under sea level) or just unlikely (the most dangerous animal is the mosquito).

So, there's things like Loofahs aren't Sponges, Cashews aren't nuts, Chameleons don't change their color to match their background and moths aren't attracted to light. All stuff that won't make you a better husband, more productive at work, or get you into college, but the type of things you might talk about at the right type of parties.

I grew up on The Book Of Lists and I love this type of stuff. In 2018, the internet is powered by this kind of stuff because it makes for the best clickbait on social media. So, I give credit that most of the book is filled with stuff that I wouldn't probably know. Also, each question/answer is about 3/4 page of long. This is the perfect size to give the answer and then move on- not too short but not too long. It also is a relatively short book but doesn't "feel" short.

The book is based off the British Show QI, which I wasn't familiar with, and although it has a British slant, there were maybe only a couple of times where I might have missed the reference. It seemed to be written for an universal audience.

As far as these books go, it does a good job. It is 'bathroom reader' style material, but that's a good thing. Recommended for those who think similarly.



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