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David Feldman (1) (1950–)

Author of Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise? And Other Imponderables

For other authors named David Feldman, see the disambiguation page.

19 Works 5,188 Members 57 Reviews 4 Favorited

About the Author

David Feldman has a master's degree in popular culture from Bowling Green State University in Ohio
Image credit: Courtesy of David Feldman

Series

Works by David Feldman

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BB (13) curiosities (34) Curiosities and wonders (15) David Feldman (11) ebook (16) English (15) English language (13) essays (13) facts (29) fun (18) General (13) general knowledge (21) General Reference (12) hardcover (20) history (20) humor (255) imponderables (172) information (22) language (33) Miscellanea (32) Miscellaneous (20) miscellany (16) NF (11) non-fiction (450) own (28) paperback (21) pop culture (32) popular science (15) questions (44) questions and answers (74) read (35) reference (359) science (162) to-read (72) trivia (400) words (11) ~CVR~ (12) ~EDN~ (12) ~EDT~ (12) ~TAG~ (12)

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Reviews

I was quite bored with this book a lot of the time. I won't read anymore of these. I was very happy to get to the end.
 
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KyleneJones | 10 other reviews | Apr 25, 2022 |

A fast-paced, light book which you will surely learn something. With a humorous and self-depreciating banter, the authors answer random questions people have had over the years.

Why can't you buy grape ice cream?
Why do drive-up ATMs have braille markings?
Why do we often find a fold-up piece of tissue paper inside one of a pair of men's dress socks?
How did they mark years before the birth of christ?
Why does dog food have to smell so awful?

This is their eleventh book so far all named after an imponderable answered in the book.… (more)
 
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wellington299 | Feb 19, 2022 |
Firstly, this book is 30 years old now so many of its facts are a bit dated and some while difficult to discover back then are easily googled today. Information about payphones, 1980's credit cards, and old business practices is occasionally interesting but no longer useful. While I enjoyed reading it, I think I'd recommend something more contemporary for any reader who isn't interested in outdated trivia.

I didn't doubt the truthfulness of the author or his thoroughness, but I was often frustrated that he didn't consistently cite his sources. There were plenty of tidbits that I wanted more information about and having the name of the author's source would've been helpful. For instance, he explains that the color blue was thought to have protective properties and was used to ward boy children. However, he doesn't say when, where, or on what authority he knows this. He also claims without context that in a wedding ceremony the father-of-the-bride would remove a shoe and hand it to the groom, who would tap the bride on the head with it to signify the transference of ownership of the woman from father to husband. As amusing as that is, I wish I knew where and when it was a custom.

I attempted to research association between the color blue and boy children. I discovered that as recently as the 1920's there were as many groups in the USA that associated pink with baby boys as blue, and the eventual scheme our culture settled on had more to do with fashion than superstition. However, in looking for a magical association with the color I as it relates to boy children, and found that there are claims that ancient Greek, Semitic, and Chinese people had this superstition, which resulted in it being spread to other countries which were influenced by those cultural megaliths. Unfortunately these claims were largely unsourced. I found plenty of references claiming that the modern superstition being derived from African slaves in the US believing that spirits could not cross water, but this was also attributed as a superstition of European origin in other places. Either this belief was common across multiple cultures in many historical eras, or its origin is thoroughly muddled.

There was plentiful documentation on the color being used to ward evil spirits away from buildings and even the clothing of adults in recent history. In the American South a tint called "Haint Blue" (haint meaning ghost, and related to "haunt") is still a popular choice in exterior home painting at least partly as a result of this traditional belief. However, I couldn't find anything about it being used to protect boy children specifically. There was a single passage in a biography of Saint Paul that in his time a Jewish boy child's foreskin would be sewed inside a blue cloth bag and that would be used to ward off evil, but that wasn't solidly attributed to any historical source. While this book's claim remains plausible, I couldn't really confirm it even with modern resources at my disposal.
… (more)
 
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wishanem | 6 other reviews | May 27, 2021 |

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Associated Authors

Kassie Schwan Illustrator
Kas Schwan Illustrator
Anthony Bale Introduction
Sander L. Gilman Contributor
Dorothy Porter Contributor
Gil Anidjar Contributor
Robin Judd Contributor
Joanne Rosenthal Introduction
Ted Bernstein Cover designer

Statistics

Works
19
Members
5,188
Popularity
#4,797
Rating
½ 3.5
Reviews
57
ISBNs
166
Languages
7
Favorited
4

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