Schott's Original Miscellany
by Ben Schott

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Book Reviews of Schott's Original Miscellany

Book Review: Buy it. You'll be glad you did. It's unbelievable.
Summary: 5 Stars

You cannot put it down - it has to be pried from your fingers by your girlfriend or your wife, who will be forever wondering WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU and who will forever say that yes, men are lesser species because look at what he's reading!

It is a book primarily for men - although it does not contain profanity or pictures of naked women. There is something in our brain that makes us memorize NATO phonetic alphabet and be massively proud of it (my name is Alpha November Delta Romeo India Uniform Sierra, and I can spell yours too, even when I'm drunk or looking at a poster of Liv Tyler) - this never happens to the gentler sex. Only a man will spend a Sunday afteroon driving around for no good reason. And only a man will read this book. A woman may take it in her hands, leaf through it and shrug her shoulders. "And you find THIS interesting?"

You know this look. You know this tone. It is a rare occasion when YOU will know what she is thinking ("my God he's really not that smart"); and she is AT LAST on the seemingly unreachable level where she admits EVEN TO HERSELF that yes, there are parts in man's brain she does not fully understand.

Read this book and you'll understand the magic. No, it does not address a nerd in all of us (we like to think we aren't nerds at all, we're massively manly and meat-eating and bike-fixing and rough, and no that girlie CD is not ours, it's our sister's, yes that's right); the book somehow touches the strings in our mind that create the most enjoyable learning experience. Even if this learning is, er, of limited practical application (although much of the knowledge contained there can indeed be useful).

Don't look down on trivia. Random facts and figures are no better or worse than seemingly deep-thought quotes that snobby types stuff themselves with. They're trying to pass themselves for educated, and sophisticated, and sharp. That's why they quote poets and that's why they use Latin phrases.

For the rest of us - people who can read and write - the objective is much more humble. With the help of trivia, we achieve a momentary gratification of IMPRESSING people on a base level. This is a play-ground dimension relating back to when you do something and other kinds think you're cool. We think we grew out of this - no, we didn't. Not really. I know I'm still a kid; and I'm pretty sure you're too, deep in your heart.

That child needs its candy - and this book is IT. Big bag of candy, as a matter of fact; it is as addictive as a big sheet of bubble-wrap (except you can't re-use bubble-wrap, and the book you will read over and over again).

And hey - while you will not earn any points with your current girlfriend for reading this; it will (probably) be helpful for picking up and impressing the next one. It's a bit like a fancy schmantzy car - a girl doesn't want to hear about its engine capacity or how the baby handles corners; yet she will (probably) not refuse to be driven in one.

Conclusion? Buy this book, read it and memorize it. Just don't leave on the passenger seat of your beamer.

Summary of Schott's Original Miscellany

Trivia Books

• Books > Subjects > Humor & Entertainment > Puzzles & Games
• Education & Reference