Product Description

This is the indispensable compendium of popular misconceptions, misunderstandings and common mistakes culled from the hit BBC show, "QI". The noticeably stouter "QI Book of General Ignorance" sets out to show you that a lot of what you think you know is wrong. If, like Alan Davies, you still think the Henry VIII had six wives, the earth has only one moon, that George Washington was the first president of the USA, that Bangkok is the capital of Thailand, that the largest living thing is a blue whale, that Alexander Graeme Bell invented the telephone, that whisky and bagpipes come from Scotland or that Mount Everest is the world's tallest mountain, then there are at least 200 reasons why this is the book for you.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #261 in Books
• Published on: 2008-12-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

From the Back Cover
This comprehensive catalogue of all the misconceptions, mistakes and misunderstandings in 'common knowledge' will make you wonder why anyone bothers going to school.

More than 25% longer, with extra cartoons, hilarious extracts from the TV show and 50 new things you didn't know, including:

No one has ever slid down a banister

There are 613 commandments in the Bible

Vipers, cobras and rattlesnakes are not poisonous

Newborn babies are indifferent to their mothers

The Swiss Family weren't called Robinson

The unluckiest date is Monday the 27th

You have no muscles in your fingers

Coffee isn't made from beans

Completely revised, corrected and plumped up, it now includes an index and an appendix listing all the celebrities who have appeared on 'QI' to date.

About the Author
QI

Customer Reviews

Quite Smashing.
Eons ago, back in the time known as... well a few years ago anyway, I was introduced to the genius concept knows as Q.I- that everything is quite interesting if looked at in the right way.
And now you too can be in on the action with the Noticeably Stouter Book of General Ignorance, the exalted compendium of QI'ness made better! "How is this so?" you shout at me bewildered. Well through lots of things, new entries, new illustration-y bits, quotes from the TV Show and a handy cut out and keep guide (WARNING: I don't actually recommend doing this, if you have then you've just ruined a nice book) of all the scores of the programmes. Now you too can see how many times studmuffin Alan Davies has lost! The book that taught me the Great Fire of London only killed five people, that the largest thing a whale can swallow is a grapefruit and a splendid Italian gentlemen called Meucci invented the telephone is improved!

Intriguing, if not remarkable
The latest edition of the semi-canonical Book of General Ignorance fits its brief of being 'quite interesting' with aplomb. Some facts are genuinely eyebrow raising: from the number of planetary moons around the Earth to James Bond's thirst quencher of choice, many of our most epidemic cultural myths are decisively debunked. The writing is succinct and smartly witty, and each entry does a good job of packing in a wide breadth of information into half a page.

There are a few misfires that prevent this from being an exceptionally interesting reference tool. The book sometimes falls short in its attempts to be authoritative, with entries like 'What's three times as dangerous as war?' resting more on loaded questioning than genuinely startling raw fact. That much of the weaker material appears to be tagged with a 'New Entry' icon suggests that this stouter version may not be a compulsory purchase for those who already own the original edition.

These gripes aside, The Book of General Ignorance is a well-crafted (and frequently amusing) tome, and is a worthy addition to any ranconteur's bookshelf.

I nearly didn't make it to the end !!
It started with cushions and idle threats but progressed onto more life threatening objects like shoes, a Mars bar and a candlestick !! I could only take so much as the facts started to build in my brain my face went red I felt dizzy and finally my mouth acted as the pressure valve and I blurted out " How many wives had Henry viii, Where is the highest mountain, Do marmots kill people ? Aaaaaarghhh !!" I ducked again as a another missile inexorably sailed in my direction. " Just put down the book I want to watch Desperate Housewives " cried my wife. But I couldn't.

That's the kind of book we have here it turns you into a royal pain full of fantastic knowledge for the duration of the read and then it fades back into the mists of obscurity and away. But take a fools advice and read it alone !!