Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15718 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 288 pages

Synopsis
Ever wondered whether Bob Holness really did play the saxophone solo on Gerry Rafferty's Baker Street? Or whether a swan can break a man's arm? Or whether computer games are illegal in Greece?! If so, you've probably spent far too much time down the pub, conversing with a mate on the wrong end of four pints of lager. We've all heard them: wild claims, spurious rumours and barely believable 'pub facts'. Don't pretend you've never wondered whether a crocodile really can run faster than a racehorse. Or pondered the possibility that there is only one cash machine in the whole of Albania? If this sort of thing keeps you awake at night, then this book has come to the rescue. Bears Can't Run Downhill...debunks and explains 201 common claims and popular misconceptions. It?s the ideal stocking-filler for the quiz fanatic, the trivia buff, the show-off down the pub ? or the wife or girlfriend who wants a way to a) get the upper hand and b) put a stop to this nonsense once and for all. So here is the definitive tome ? all you will never need (until the sequel at least) - of well-known ?facts? both true and apocryphal.

From the Publisher
Fact, fiction and everything in between: 201 ludicrous claims, half-baked theories and fascinating titbits explained

About the Author
Robert Anwood:
Robert Anwood lives in London, where his hobbies include going to the pub and arguing.

Customer Reviews

Fun and a great present
I really enjoyed this, as I found it a good mix of funny writing and proper factual stuff. Definitely recommend it as a good present book which is how I got it. There are a couple of other similar-soundnig books out there but of the ones I read this had the best mix. You couldn't accuse it of being derivative of the QI book as that came out either at the same time or possibly even a bit later!

derivative
This review would have been better if I hadn't also just read several other similar books including the superb QI book.

Nobody has ever mentioned any of these facts in the pubs I drink in.

Debunked
Picked this book on the advice of the other reviews and found it has been misrepresented. I didn't find the writing particuarly amusing and the 'research' smacks of typing the fact into google and reciting the results. In fact the majority of conclusions are unsubstantiated and left me feeling like only half the sorry had been told. There really are no real insights and by the time I was halfway through I felt like a list of the facts with a true/false next to them would have been just as entertaining.

Let me put it this way - Jade Goody could have written this book.