Do you like Trivial Pursuit? Is there something appealing about cluttering up your mind with obscure bits of information? More importantly, can you tell a true statement from a bunch of baloney?
If you answered 'yes' to these three questions, then you will probably enjoy Fact. Fact. Bullsh*t!
What's To Like...
Neil Patrick Stewart uses a kewl template to present the trivia : three assertions; two of which are factual, the third of which is bullsh*t. The phony answers are well-crafted. I kept looking for a pattern that would give them away, and didn't find any.
There are seven chapters : Animals, Pop Culture, Food, Dead People ("History"), Science, Sports & Games, and Miscellaneous. Using chapters lends a nice order to the book. I liked it better than just random entries. They were just the right length, as was the book as a whole.
The writing is witty; the author usually adds some more bits of trivia while giving you the answer. And there's a couple pictures to break up the monotony of the text.
Excerpt... (a sample question; spot the BS; answer in comments)
LOL!
1. Expressions such as "LOL" (an acronym for "laughing out loud") has (sic) been proven to be beneficial for e-communication: A study at the University of Tasmania found that using Internet shorthand is twice as efficient for both sender and reader.2. LOL is an airport in Nevada. Lol is a place in France. Lolol is a town in Chile. "Lol" Tolhurst was the first drummer for the English band The Cure.
3. The French equivelent of "LOL" is "MDR." Coincidentally, lol is a real word in both Welsh and Dutch, meaning "nonsense" and "fun," respectively.
Kindle Details...
I got the book as a limited-time free-download at Amazon. It is now selling for $8.93, and is #4/#5 in various "paid" categories there. It's also available as a paperback for $11.16
Everyone's an Expert...
There are a few typos and errors. The Fact/Bullsh*t answer designations on the Marie Curie question were reversed. And the Thomas Jefferson one was both wrong and spurious. It almost seemed like it was a red herring, but I can't see a purpose for that.
The only suggestion I can make is for the author to list his sources. But, instead of at the rear of the book, how about online somewhere? It would be a convenient resource. Most of us, of course, wouldn't use it. But the nit-pickers could have a field day.
8 Stars. Fact. Fact. Bullsh*t! is a fun, light, easy-to-read book. I read it as I would an anthology - a few nibbles at a time. It never got tedious.
1 comment:
Answer to LOL question : #1 is bullsh*t. To find out why, read the book.
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