C. Alan Joyce

I had no idea that Reader’s Digest was still publishing books, nor that they were publishing things I’d find interesting. (Are they still doing condensed books?) But this little reference tome of odd and interesting facts was interesting; trivia is cat nip for me, and while some of what was in here were things I already knew, quite a bit wasn’t. I found myself reading some sections out loud to MT, and more than a couple sparked interesting conversations, and at least 1 debate. (MT got show more a bit sloppy and made a throw-away comment about Australia not banning books like America did – to be fair, a national sports icon died young yesterday, and he wasn’t in top form. Still, Wikipedia was called up, and there was a reckoning.)

I always pick these type of books up at used book sales, or remainder shops, so I always feel like the knowledge gained was good value. show less

A most pleasing romp through literary trivia throughout history. I've read a lot of literary trivia, but this book didn't just cover the same old ground again -- there was a great deal of stuff here that I'd never seen or heard of before. And the book covers not only historical authors (Shakespeare, Mark Twain) but modern, still-living, still-writing writers (James Patterson, J.K. Rowling). I highly recommend.

This book is summed up in its subtitle, so no synopsis is necessary. It isn't a serious, scholarly literary reference book and the avid reader may not find much new information, but it is whimsically humorous and fun. There's a gift presentation page in the front, which is a good idea because it could be the perfect gift for the budding author or bibliophile.

Interesting. The best and most interesting part was about Lemony Snippet's author. He was also the accordion player for one of my fave albums: 69 Love Songs by Magnetic Fields. Mostly, twas very interesting.