Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #59027 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 288 pages

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

About the Author
Robert Anwood lives in London, where his hobbies include going to the pub and arguing. Writing under the questionable pseudonym of Siegfried Baboon, he also runs the Truck Driver's Gear Change Hall of Shame (www.gearchange.org), a website that musically documents the world's most unnecessary key changes.

Customer Reviews

There's many an untrue word spoken in drink
From the title of this book, I was expecting it to be yet another of those predictable compilations that come out at this time of year, containing "amazing" facts or "hilarious" urban myths, most of which you've seen before because they've been recycled from the 1001 previous books on the same subject. But, as Mr Anwood explains in his introduction, his approach to gathering material was rather different to this.

In short, he noticed that, after a few beers, people tend to become self-appointed experts on any subject under the sun, and will confidently inform you that, for instance, rice is technically a type of fruit, that Alfred Hitchcock didn't have a belly button, or that the Queen's phone number used to be 1; they usually follow this up by exclaiming "FACT!".

The author appears to have taken a notebook to the pub with him, diligently written these booze-fuelled "facts" down, and gone away and thoroughly researched them. Combined with his dry humour, this makes for a highly entertaining (and at times surprising) read. Definitely a good Christmas stocking-filler - but read it yourself before you hand it over, and certainly before you next go down the pub!

Essential anthology of pub facts
This is a splendidly researched and witty reference tome. It presents 201 so-called sozzled facts that one hears from time to time in a pub that are usually nonsense but nevertheless have an element of plausibility. Each fact or myth is analysed and at the end given a verdict, either true or false (or made-up) but sometimes the fact cannot be so easily verified. This book can also save your life - one learns that bears are very agile and that running downhill to escape from a bear will not help. The thing to do instead is to remain calm!!!, speak in a low voice!!! or wave your hands slowly!!!, while backing away from the bear's 'personal space'!!!. Also, don't eat too much nutmeg as it is poisonous, but a little will make you high. I like this book.

The joy of the pub !
What a read! Anybody familiar with British pub culture, more especially 'blokes' will find this an absolute hoot. Its strength lies in the research that has gone into the inane drivel that we all exchange after a few beers. The patience of the man is enviable in the extreme. It is written in a suitably light hearted and tongue in cheek way and is, frankly, hilarious.

If you don't buy it for yourself, you must know somebody that wants it for Christmas. Don't miss out on the opportunity to 'party hard' with the termites.

Cheered me up on a dark, pre autumn morning !!!