QI: The Book of General Ignorance - The Noticeably Stouter Edition

I’m so addicted to this show, I’ve watched the whole serie time after timeLove it!

I am a huge fan of the show QI, and have always found it to be a fun and hilarious way to gain knowledge. So when I saw that there was a way to do so in print, I bought this book.It has a huge variety of interesting facts covering a massive variety of subjects, there truly is something to interest everyone. From common myths (such as swimming after eating, strongest muscle in the body, etc.) to just plain interesting facts that you never knew, you will be pleasently surprised by how much you thought you knew and didn't!I haven't read the original book (this one contains more facts) but they do a great job of marking the new chapters to let readers of the previous easily tell if they've read it before (the chapter is clearly marked with "new entry!").And if you're a fan of the show, possibly the best bit of the book- at the end of some (not all, I'm guessing it's the chapters of the facts that have been discussed on the program) of the chapters, there are quotes from various panelists that will have you laughing out loud!The chapters are fairly short which allows you to easily take a break without feeling like you're stopping in the middle of something, and it's great to sit down and read for long stretches of time or if you just have a few minutes to kill waiting at the doctors office.All in all a great read, nothing too heavy, but definitely very interesting. You will be impressed by the facts and will undoubtedly impress everyone around you!

I fell for the show since the first time I saw it. What's better than funny and smart people having fun while expressing awe at the .... everything. This book packages that into its pages for private enjoyment.

I love the TV series, and I love the book. For fans of the series, many of the examples in the book will be familiar to you, but it's effectively a collection of facts written in an amusing and illuminating way. It manages to be a fun read, rather than a list of 'things', however - something which several similar publications could learn by.You're not going to win any general knowledge awards by memorising this book - but the occasional gem might stick - and being able to trot it out in a social setting will make people wonder just what the heck you've been doing with your time.If you like the series, you'll like the book. Probably enough said.

I have just finished reading QI: The Book of General Ignorance - The Kindle Edition.What a delight! If you enjoy general knowledge (and not so general knowledge) facts this book is a must read! The chapters are short and well written which results in the reader running through one chapter to the next. I think it is a must have for any Kindle library.Regarding the Kindle edition:There are a few places where full stops have been left out but in general it is a high quality, well edited book. It also sports an interactive table of contents which is always a practical in a Kindle edition of this size.

I am a big fan of the TV show QI so when I saw this book I had to have it. I was not disappointed. The book is a series of little stories based on interresting questions. I think they have all been on TV and I recongnised many of them. Nonetheless I found the book compelling and overall my level of general ignorance has reduced. Many of the facts were quirky but believeable. I found the book a very handy second read. As the chapters are short it is ideal for those times when you only need to fill a minute or two; standing in a queue, waiting for a meeting etc.

some interesting facts here, especially ones debunking long aquired beliefs, maybe more information than you want on some facts and not enough on others. will lead to you doing more research yourself. worth buying for the information it does give you and for leading you to more research but much better as a book than as kindle material, have book of general ignorance 2 on paper and it is much easier to find anything there.

Very interesting collection of facts that will surely sparkle a conversation or two (or make an absolute bore of yourself!). Everything is explained very clearly and with a touch of humour.

As I didn't have the earlier, slimmer, version of this book I have no complaints about a re-hash or being cheated. Anyone buying this book will get exactly what they expect and almost all will be delighted by that. I was! There was very, very, little in this book that I already knew and the real frustration is that, after every new fact, I thought "Wow, I'll remember that!" when, in reality, I can remember almost nothing.I didn't dip in and out of this book; I read it like a novel and like the true 'QI junkie' that I am. Each snippet is short; usually less than two pages and there are lots and lots of them. They are ordered in a very loose arrangement that makes some, often very tenuous, connection between one item and the next. All are utterly fascinating and I didn't come across a single item that was only 'mildly interesting'; every one was brilliant.Everyone who buys this book (for themselves) must be satisfied with it as you wouldn't buy it unless you are a fan of the QI TV programme, and, if you are, this is like a concentrated dose of pure QI. This is the beef stock cube of pedantic trivia and I loved it!As you might imagine, I'm a real 'know-all' and delight in trotting out those little known facts at the drop of a hat. It doesn't make me popular but it does entertain me! I will, definitely, be dipping into this little gem from time to time and the index at the back is very helpful. Actually, a tiny proportion of this wisdom will stay with me. For example, the next time that I see the banana plants around our villa in Cyprus, I'll remember that they aren't trees at all and are sterile! Osmotic learning at its best.You wouldn't be reading this unless you were contemplating buying this book. And you wouldn't be contemplating buying it unless you had seen QI on TV and it had piqued your interest. Here's some news for you; If you've got this far, it's too late and you're hooked, so just give in to the cravings, buy this book and wriggle with guilty pleasure as you soak up everything you'll never need to know.

If you're looking at this book you're probably a fan of the TV series, so I don't need to explain what the book is about. My child who is 10 loves reading as do I. A book of random facts where the wording in the question is key to understanding the answer. Example, the tallest mountain compared to the highest mountain give you two different answers.Would I recommend this book? Yes!

I'm sure there must be folks out there who hate random snippets of knowledge and don't care who actually invented the telephone, why geese were once thought to be a kind of fish or even a vegetable, whether one can die by eating too many potatoes, what Richard Gere's middle name is, or which nation consumes the most Spam. But in all honesty, I don't know why any of them would buy this book.If, like me, you enjoy finding out that Eskimos buy refrigerators to stop their food from getting too cold, or why a paperclip was an emotive symbol in Norway during WWII, or having your curiosity piqued to realise that scientists don't know how ants manage to have a photographic memory or that the best place to find a hitherto unknown to science species is in your own back garden, then this will be right up your street.I'm sure there must be folks out there who hate random snippets of knowledge and don't care who actually invented the telephone, why geese were once thought to be a kind of fish or even a vegetable, whether one can die by eating too many potatoes, what Richard Gere's middle name is, or which nation consumes the most Spam. But in all honesty, I don't know why any of them would buy this book.If, like me, you enjoy finding out that Eskimos buy refrigerators to stop their food from getting to cold, or why a paperclip was an emotive symbol in Norway during WWII, or having your curiosity piqued to realise that scientists don't know how ants manage to have a photographic memory or that the best place to find a hitherto unknown to science species is in your own back garden, then this will be right up your street.As an extra added bonus for fans of the show, there are snippets of dialogue from various episodes, which are generally funny and sometimes howlingly so.So if you would like to find out what rhymes with orange, why banana plants walk, or which sea mammals served as part of the Task Force in Iraq, snap this up and enjoy.

I've just finished the book 1,227 Facts to Blow Your Socks Off by these two Authors, which really surprised me with the facts presented. In this tome, some of those facts from that book are represented here with a fuller discussion as to why what is said is 'fact'. It's incredibly interesting and a very easy read.I love simple compendium-type books and this fits that bill perfectly. You'll love the one on how to suppress a crocodile!In the aforementioned Facts book, I noticed a very strange thing whilst reading it on my Kindle Fire. It counted the time left in chapter down in the bottom left hand corner of each page. This book also started with that format, but has since changed to Page Numbers. I notice that this feature begins as checking your reading speed. I'll have to watch that again when I read Book 2 in this series to see if it happens again. Quite honestly, I'd rather have the page numbers! Perhaps someone saw my review for the aforementioned book and changed the format? It was the strangest thing to see!Great book, guys. Can't wait to read the second volume!

As others have said, this book will turn you into a fact-spewing geek for a few weeks. It's very interesting and enlightening but you also realise that all the things it's telling you will just make you sound like a smart arse should you try and tell anyone else about it.It's also true that a lot of the facts rely on fake questions or answers that rely on technicalities. For every few questions that's like "What's the driest place on Earth?" which is followed by a suitably surprising yet factually correct answer - a logical pairing of straight question and straight answer - there's a question that misleads you or an answer that feels rather smug; the QI equivalent of saying "Which hand is the 10p coin in?" when it is, in fact, in neither hand (or as this book would have it, "It's not actually a coin because..." or "These aren't actually hands because...")That said, it can be really hard to put down, though is also great for quick little reads (perhaps while you're on the toilet or waiting for the kettle to boil) since it's obviously broken up into questions rather than large chapters.Just do your friends and family a favour by keeping your newly found wealth of knowledge to yourself. Maybe lend them the book rather than trying to recite it to them (easier than it sounds, believe me).