Product Description

You know how it is... you're at a party, you've had a drink or two, and then someone introduces you to a friend. He's a doctor. And it seems like the perfect time to ask all those strange questions you've always wondered about, but never had the courage to ask: Can poppy seeds make you test positive for heroin? What are goosebumps? Why does asparagus make your wee smell? Why do old people get hairy ears? Is it possible to lose your contact lenses inside your head forever? Why do some people have an "outie" belly button and some people an "innie"? Does warm milk really help you sleep? Is it actually possible to get scared to death? This book gives the answer to these and many more questions - pretty much everything you've ever wanted to know - but never had enough Dutch courage to ask!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #87418 in Books
• Published on: 2005-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Review
'The perfect book for trivia junkies' TNT MAGAZINE 'An amusing and light-hearted read' REAL '

About the Author
Mark Leyner is the author of several books, and has written scripts for a variety of films and television shows. His writing also appears regularly in the New Yorker, Time and GQ. Billy Goldberg MD is an emergency medicine physician on faculty at New York City teaching hospital. He is also a writer and artist whose paintings have been exhibited in New York City. Billy Goldberg MD is an emergency medicine physician on faculty at New York City teaching hospital. He is also a writer and artist whose paintings have been exhibited in New York City.

Customer Reviews

Some off-color humor amid some semi-serious Q and A
I knew why men have nipples before I read this book. Because we're all female for the first six weeks after conception until the male hormones kick in. Yes, macho men, the default human is female. But I can never resist the kind of book in which there are questions we'd like the answers to and answers.

Ah, but this book is a little different. First, some of the questions are given equivocal answers, which is to be expected, since most of what there is to know isn't known. Some of the questions, like "Will using a cell phone give you a brain tumor?" or "Is it true that left-handed people are smarter than right-handed people?" aren't answered at all. Leyner, who is a writer, and Goldberg, who is an MD, have a way of going around the question. I got the feeling that the extent of their research didn't go much past the Internet--which might raise the question, how did this book ever become a best seller and inspire a sequel? The answer, my friend, is in the comedy.

Leyner and Goldberg are a comedy team. While the bulk of the book is in the Qs and As, a good part consists of some hijinks at a cocktail party (thus the three martinis, although Leyner is mostly into Don Julio tequila). A third part seems to be lifted verbatim from their emails to each other.

Part of the fun are those emails because they seem to give the reader a realistic glimpse into the cooperative creative process. It is also kind of fun to read what a doctor writes when he lets his hair down, so to speak, or at least takes off the white coat. However all of this is carefully staged. This is one of those "best seller" ideas that actually worked. These guys trade raunchy humor spiked with some information and lo and behold it works.

Well, it semi-works. I liked the book and read it through in a setting, but some of the humor may be a little too raunchy for some.

Bottom line: diverting enough for a rainy day or for that cross country flight, or if you need a break from War and Peace.

Interesting, but obvious at times...
I bought this book feeling i might find the answer to some of life's querkiest questions, and was not completely disappointed. However, some of the facts are pretty obvious, and at times the book becomes a little tedious.A large positive is the witty humour, and the ongoing commentry from Leyner and Goldberg brings a smile to your face. They seem to have a strange friendship, two very similar personalities living entirely different lives. A book that will stay in the bathroom to let house guests skim through.

A good idea ruined
Have to disagree with the other reviewers - it's the unnecessary, self congratulatory, trying-far-too-hard "humour" that forced me to put this book down before I'd barely got past the first chapter. When the writers eventually stop talking about what wacky characters they both are and realise there's a question to be answered, the answer is normally so short as to be pointless. In the right hands (think Bryson), it could have been entertaining, but this is utterly tedious.