Trivia Books

"No problem is so big that it can't be solved in 12 reels (or less)". This is a typical statement that one reads in large font opposite of a movie still that complements it. This book is funny and will make you laugh and maybe even says "Huh! Thats true!", or "Oh yeah!" The book is not really a read, so to speak, but a gander across some 200 pages which will take minutes to complete. The title itself is a play on Robert Fulghum's (forever parodied) popular self-help book "Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten". Not something I would go out of my way for, however it has some insight into the world of movies and how there are some things that typify the cinematic lifestyle.

I hope you have as much fun reading this humorous collection of film cliche's as I had writing it and collecting the movie stills which illustrate it. I know I wrote it, but I still laugh out loud at my favorite entries every time I pick it up. WHY NOT PICK UP A COPY YOURSELF

A hilarious collection of movie cliches, each presented in its own apropos type font, and every one ilustrated with an aptly chosen film still (everything from the silent 10 COMMANDMENTS to SHOWGIRLS) The author is the creator of the infamous RAZZIE Awards, which dis-honor the WORST in Film in each year...How many more laughs could you expect at this price?

This book (as the subtitle says) is a humorous collections of cliches and un-truisms that can be gathered from watching movies. The book takes only about five minutes to read and some of the observations are hilarious, some are right on the money, and some just don't make sense outside of movies. Each statement has a picture from a movie beside it that illustrates what is said. For instance, "The village Idiot is a veritable font of wisdom" quote is next to a picture of Forrest Gump. Some of the observations many of my friends did not understand. Unfortunately, if you are like me and get most of them, you've probably seen too many movies.

There's always more to learn about the Fab Four and this book is one to read. Written concisely in an easy to read, fun format, even an ardent Beatles fan will discover new facts.

...at least in my collection of Beatles literature, which began with the original edition of Tony Carr's The Beatles An Illustrated Record and was most recently augmented by five of Bruce Spizer's excellent hardbacks on the group's American record releases. This volume, while hardly exhaustive in terms of the detail that could have been gone into on the subjects it covers, did a good job of reminding this long-time fan that there are still many nooks and crannies in the lives and careers of the Beatles worth looking into. Even material on matters I would not normally have found interesting as such drew me in, and before I knew it I'd practically read the darn thing from cover to cover!

Not strictly an "FAQ," as the title suggests, but better, because authors Shea & Rodriguez have unearthed Beatles-related information that practically NO ONE would even think to ask about. Great fun, with loads of insider details, insights, and surprises. Separate chapters encompass live performances, unreleased tracks, variant recordings, original (and unused) song titles, uncredited Beatle studio help on the records of others, the Beatles' in-studio collaborators, unusual cover versions of Beatles songs, the boys' movie careers, wives & girlfriends, and much more. And all told, mind you, via extraordinary research and lively prose. This is NOT a mere list book, but a smart, essential addition to your Beatles collection. Pleasing foreword by Byrds founding member Chris Hillman; and a charmingly personal afterword by Apple songwriter/recording artist Jackie Lomax. Plus dozens of unusual photos, drawings, and other epehemera.

Even the most ardent Beatle fan just might find something new in this well written, fact filled book. Easy to browse through and unfailingly interesting.

This book is a real disappointment. How many facts can a writer cram on a page? It is really not a readable book.

A.O.I.A. Online Social Club...

Anyone that would like to join my online web ring "A.O.I.A." can e-mail me. We circulate e-mails on all issues past, present, and future with regards to the Italian American community. A.O.I.A. stands for "American Of Italian Ancestry." We are all Americans, but keeping the cultural branch of our family tree is very important to me. As an American Of Italian Ancestry, I am constantly trying to incorporate something Italian into my daily life. Whether it's food, music, movies, sports, clothes, cars, you name it. If it's a person, place, or thing that has roots from the boot, I am interested in learning about it and discussing it. That's what makes you the ultimate Italian American in this melting pot of America. You don't have to be first generation Italian or speak the language fluently to be an Italian American. If you look and feel and act Italian American, you are one in my eyes. Don't be a dry as toast meddigan (an American who denies anything ethnic). Instead of an apple pie, go for a ricott' cheesecake. Instead of a meatloaf, have a meatball.

A.O.I.A. - Popeye International Club Survey

You may reply with PNTA which is "prefer not to answer" on any of the following questions...If some seem like "yes" or "no" questions and you are on the fence, you may reply with "unsure" or "sometimes"

1.) Please tell us your first and last name
2.) Please tell us where you were born and where you currently reside. City and state only, no street address at this time
3.) Circle Age Range (18-27, 28-38, 39-49, 50-60, 60+)
4.) What nationality do you consider yourself in addition to American?
5.) Do you speak any other languages fluently?
6.) If you are not fluent in a formal foreign language, do you occasionally mix in slang dialect and other Americanized ethnic words into your speech patterns?
7.) Do you find that many of your favorite things in life (food, clothing choices, sports and entertainment stars, etc), tend to be those of your family nationality?
8.) What is your general income range? ($10-$25k, $26-$50k, $51-$75k, $76k-$100k, $100+)
9.) What do you do for a living?
10.) What is your political affiliation?
11.) Favorite movie of all time?
12.) Favorite sport team?
13.) Name three of your hobbies
14.) Would you possibly be available to attend a club "meet-up" group in New Jersey in the future?
15.) Please provide a brief paragraph or so about yourself. Feel free to use this space to ask any questions you may have about the AMERICANS-OF-ITALIAN-ANCESTRY and duel POPEYE INTERNATIONAL club.

If there is only one book in your Library about Italian Americans, (and I certainly hope not), it should be "Heritage-Italian American Style". Although I use it as a Reference Book, It is also very rewarding to sit and read, since it a sumptuous smorgasbord of tidbits for the mind.

It would make the IDEAL GIFT !!!! for Teens (and Adults) who value their heritage, but are not sure why.

With adjacent Italian Translation, it also enriches your Italian Language skills.

It makes possible a wonderful Family Quiz Game.

THE book for Italians, and those who wish they were!

Well, what can I say, Leon Radomile has done it again, and better! Many more features including the new Italian version, web links, more subjects... If you are looking for a nicely and inventive way to read about the Italian and Italian-American culture in the world, and learn Italian language at the same time, this is the perfect book to start. Buy it!

I really enjoyed this book. It was a fascinating read. I really learned a lot. I hope to try out more of their books.

There seem to be several different categories of people who purchase books such as this: Those with superior intelligence who use these exercises as a kind of intellectual aerobics inorder to "stay in shape", those with above-average intelligence who are curious to know how well they can "do", and those with lesser intelligence who think that purchasing the book and completing the exercises will somehow make them brighter. (Perhaps there is another group whose members purchase the book and display it prominently but complete no exercises.) In recent years, I have purchased a number of these books and consider this one to be among the best. (Yes, thanks for asking, I completed the exercises but how well I did is not relevant to this review.) For whom do I recommend this specific book? Anyone who is curious to know what the exercises involve, how well she or he does when completing them, and (of greatest interest to me) learning WHY her or his responses are correct or incorrect. Completing exercises in several different books also reveals certain patterns of thought which stimulate the mind to approach a given problem or question from different perspectives. For example, what do the answer choices share in common? What is missing among the options offered? Over time, we develop certain mindsets. For example, we tend to see only what we expect to see. So-called "brain teasers" force us to perceive a given problem or question differently. The brain is a muscle which, like all other muscles, needs regular exercise. Books such as this provide that.

I recall years ago being what I thought was a smart person, but was treated in school like a dummy or just average intelligence.
However I always thought someday I'll show em what I can do. As it turned out I wasn't gifted, at least not IQ 140 or more, but fairly close to Mensa level. I have taken quite a few of the IQ tests on the web and scored 138 on one, but 119 on another. So why not pump up my mind as I would muscles? That's why I brought the Mensa Genius book. I rather suspect however that true genus may be IQ 180 and up with creative talents. In any event this book will help you discipline your mind to solve problems, some of which are tedious.
The one element I dislike about this book is its chapters on culture. I mean for pity sake what 20 year old IQ 160 is going to know a damn thing about Teapot Domb, Richard Nixon or what an Italian opera house is called ? Talk about cultural bias!
However the more straight forward and reasonable numeric and verbal puzzles I think do test intelligence, although I suppose one needs have read to do vocabulary items.
The book is fun, but I am sad to say too culturally or should I say cultishly biased for true measures of intellect. None the less good minds will knid the book challenging and perhaps warm them up for the Mensa exam, which I understand costs about 300 dollars, and you must score 132 to be considered in the high IQ club.
I bet Micheal Jordon would not pass any of these tests, but his gifts speak for themselves as being outside what Mensa is looking for.

Am I Mensa material? Maybe not with all those strange culturally biased questions Mensa loves so much, but the book was a fun read and did sharpen my problem solving skills. I recommend it if for nothing else than recreation.

This the second book of quizzes from Mr. Grosswirth, a well- known and long-time Mensa member, who probably goes back 40 years with Mensa. The questions range greatly in variety and difficulty, and there's enough here to challenge anyone from a neophyte test taker to a more experienced, battle-scarred IQ test veteran (like me :-).

The question of IQ is a fascinating one, and the problem of accurately measuring human intelligence, despite over 100 years now of research on the subject, is still not resolved. One problem is that progress in the brain sciences over the last 50 years has given us a different perspective on intelligence, and one that current IQ tests really can't address. For example, the brain is really an amazingly complex network comprised of 14,000 major and minor brain centers, and each one contributes some function, some big, some small, to the overall integrated functioning of the brain and of intelligence.

So far there is still no IQ test that assesses the true functional integration of the brain, although one could claim that Spearman's G, or general intelligence factor, first proposed by Spearman back in the 20s, is a proxy for that. Also, in the same vein, J.P. Guilford's structure of intellect model divided intelligence into 120 different discrete abilities, and most intelligence tests usually only assess three or four different factors. The DAT or Differential Aptitude Test measured 9, and was better than most in this regard, but technically, it is an aptitude test and not an IQ test, since IQ isn't the same as aptitude, since an IQ test is supposed to measure "non- crystallized intelligence."

And for you old-time psychometrics guys out there (like me, sort of), remember the great L.L. Thurstone's "orthogonal matrices with varimax rotation?" (basically an early form of analysis of variance).

(Sorry about that; I just had to put that blast from the past in there. :-))

Finally, the worst criticism of present-day IQ tests is that a simple, 20-minute vocabulary test can be shown to be 90% as accurate as the longest omnibus and multifactor test, a rather embarrassing fact considering the thousands of man years of effort that have gone into creating some of the most famous and heavily standardized IQ tests. Related to this fact is that the math subtests typically correlate at the .75 level with the verbal tests, which is quite high and should be lower so that a purer factor loading is achieved, although some of the spatial subtests only intercorrelate at .5 with math and verbal. And then there's the fact that the best predictor of college grades (and even of overall success in life) is high school grades, not an IQ test or even the supposed college exams like the SAT.

Research efforts have shown that once one reaches an IQ of 120, further IQ points above that level are not as important as social intelligence, something that has come to the fore in recent decades. Unless you want to be a physicist or something, an IQ of 120 is enough for almost any degree or job in life. President Bush probably doesn't have an IQ of more than 115 or so, and look where he got. And the co-discoverer of the DNA Helix, James Watson, has an IQ of 118.

Creativity is also a major factor in school and life success. A classic study by psychologists Getzels and Jackson showed that creative subjects with an average IQ of 120 had grades just as high as high-IQ subjects with an average of 140. And studies also show that creative people are happier than those less creative.

All this shows that while IQ tests are interesting and are useful in many ways, we still don't know how to really measure intelligence except in a very basic sense.

Not nearly as interesting as the Intellectual Devotional books. Kind of amusing but also a bit juvenile. I know they are trying to keep things interesting, especially some dry topics. It's a fun read but I can't recommend buying it. Get it from the library.

For anyone who is addicted to Jeopardy or likes to show off their vast knowledge of all things this is the perfect guide to help you achieve a higher level of "geniushood". It gives interesting and enlightening tidbits on a vast array of topis (rocket science to Shakespeare). This book really win take your genius to infinity and beyond. If you are smart you will purchase immediately, if your not then this isn't the book for you anyway...

The GENIUS INSTRUCTION MANUAL is the latest book from those fun and crazy people at Mental Floss, the magazine and publishing organization that tries to make trivia and learning cool (well, they are as close to cool as a trivia organization can get). Following the pattern from other Mental Floss books, e.g. COCKTAIL PARTY CHEATS, GENIUS INSTRUCTION MANUAL is full of little informational tidbits to make you at least appear to be a genius after reading the book. The book starts off with some of the hobbies that famous geniuses of the past have had as well some pastimes that famous geniuses have had that led to their ultimate demise. There's a section about time travel, modernism vs. postmodernism, the basics of rocket science, famous artists, string theory, relativity, famous artists, and some great savants of history. There are also sections on how to dress like a right-brained genius and how to dress like a left-brained genius. About every twenty pages or so, there's a page that tells you how far you are to becoming a genius, e.g. "Congratulations! You are now 60% of the way toward full-fledged Genius." I found the GENIUS INSTRUCTION MANUAL to be a very educational, entertaining, and rewarding book. I learned some things I didn't know before. For instance, I never knew that Beethoven probably suffered from lead poisoning. A great gift for any person who likes learning and who has a sense of humor (smart people with no funny-bone wouldn't get this book), e.g. a gag gift for college students.

This book is a quick read but lots of fun. It has interesting trivia, short overviews on a lot of topics. It continues to demonstrate why "Mental Floss" is such a fun magazine with off the wall, smart humor.

Lt.Col.Brooks shot himself in the foot on his overated commanders chapter. As most modern war college and west point grads, the new mind set is that the Virginia son's General Lee and Jackson were fair generals at best. For a brief year in France in 1944-1945 the U.S. Army with their allied forces fought offensive battles that involved an a well trained and talented enemy. General Lee led his army for four grueling years against a difficult opponent, The U.S. army and Stonewall Jacksons valley campaign was one of Gen. Edwin Rommel (another fair commander) watch words. As with most U.S. miltary minds General Giap( another fair commander) did not defeat the Japanese, French or American forces in Southeast Asia. But the book is a great read, with details on strange and odd folks on the stage of World History and I will keep this book in my library.

This book easily earns five stars, because it's accurate, well-written, and witty. Don't let the format fool you. The author is well-read and has done an impressive amount of research, so much so that I believe high school and undergraduate students in history or military science could use it as a reference. It's a fun read.

Normally I find top ten military lists like those on MILHST-L fun to read, but not very informative. This book is superb because it combines insightful commentary and fun lists.

What Brooks has done is assemble 70+ top ten lists, but each entry has one or more paragraphs of explanation. And it is clear that he has thought very carefully and researched his choices on his lists.

More specifically, why is this such a good book?

First, the author is well-read and informed. You may not agree with his opinions, I know I have more than a few disagreements, but they are based on a solid understanding of military history and the literature. (BTW, the author is a decorated veteran of the Gulf War, so he has first-hand knowledge of war.)

Second, he has created great categories, not just the obvious ones, like the Great Captains of History, Overrated Commanders, Underrated Commanders, and Decisive Battles. Here are some of the 70+ ones that I found quite facinating: Military Myths, Chaplains, Murder (and Death) Most Foul, Retrograde Operations, Mutinies, Entertainers, Cavalry Charges, POW Camps, Courts-Martial, Military Web Sites, Lopsided Victories (more than 30,000 casualties), Lopsided Victories (less than 30,000 casualties), and Last Stands. I love his four War Movie categories: Operational, Nonoperational, Testosterone, and Estrogen. Also, his suggestions on the ten books with which to begin building a military library are quite sound, especially when combined with his four other military book categories. Finally, Brooks has a great category that will challenge the serious historian -- he canvasses several thousand years of history to create the greatest Command Staff in History.

Third, Brooks has a good sense of wit. The book is fun to read! Again, the seriousness of the book is not compromised by his witty and at times, sarcastic, comments, rather it is enhanced. This book does challenge the serious historian to think about his own opinions.

Fourth, the book is a useful reference. He has some top ten lists that are straight reference, e.g., air aces, sub aces, Marshal-Generals of France. And for each person in the book, he has their dates of birth and death (when known). There is a twelve-page bibliography and an index.

Informative and fun, and a great way to get a conversation amongst historians going -- what more can you ask for in a book?

Never thought reading about the military could be fun - or funny - until I read this little gem. The chapters are short, concise and interesting. You can skip chapters or read it straight through. Believe me, you'll never loose a history question in Trivial Pursuit again once you've finished with this book! Learn, laugh and educate yourself about the military with this great little book!

Russell Ash's data sources include government departments from the United Nations, research groups, specialists in just about everything, and commercial organizations.

This comprehensive compendium includes:

Over 700 lists
First Facts
Guides to Websites

The pages vary in background colors and each chapter has a theme color, which makes for a very colorful book. There are also plenty of full-color pictures.

The Contents:

The Universe & The Earth - Are you looking for the top 10 "Most Isolated Inhabited Islands" or just want to find the principal components of air, this book provides some interesting lists.

Life on Earth - You will recognize common facts like the Cheetah being the fastest mammal, but what about the heaviest turtle? I also had no idea beetles were the most common insects, although ants, bees and wasps where third. May I say, beware the banana spider.... There is also a list of deadliest spiders. I was not happy about the list of animals used in experimentation. I had no idea they used cats.

The Human World - I was not surprised to see depression listed as the most common health disorder, but was a bit shocked that Schizophrenia is not far down the list. I had no idea that Nuts were the most common allergy. Yes, I'm not alone! But people are allergic to fresh fruit and fresh vegetables? Yikes, what is the world coming to. If you want your child to have a more unique name than most of the population, the top ten name lists will be helpful. It was not overly comforting to see that America has the sixth largest army although we have the largest defense budget. Want to know the top 10 religions of the world? You will find it all here.

Town & Country - There are times when the US does not make it into the top ten, so they have put the "US" in Italics at the end and also included "World" calculations for comparison.

Culture & Learning - So the Internet population is at 940,000,000. Oh, then it gets really fun. They list all the top 10 books! I loved that the "Jabberwocky" is one of the most popular poems in the world and who hasn't read: How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways." If you want to know how much someone paid for John Lennon's Steinway upright piano, this is where you find the prices.

Music & Musicians -When you look through the song titles, do you notice anything? I see a lot of common themes.

Stage & Screen - A great section to browse through if you are still trying to catch up with the top movies. They also have lists of "leading men and leading women" and most of their movies or those that made it to the top 10. You can also find the "raspberry awards."

Commercial World - It is pretty shocking to read that suicide is one of the top unnatural deaths in the US. Traffic accidents and homicides make sense, but who would have thought that we are all so dangerous when cooking! That is the top cause of domestic fire. Well, Amazon made it to the top of the Internet Retailers list. Well, second only to eBay. You will no longer wonder why Switzerland is so clean and be even more wary of online auctions. The "Food Favorites" section was great. Switzerland is still eating the most chocolate and must all be on an "in love" high.

Transport & Tourism - Anyone ever heard of the "Seawise University?" Apparently this was the largest passenger ship ever to sink. Seems ships sinking in 1912 make better movies. The Titanic is all over this book, in lists galore. Was pleased to know I'd been to one of the busiest airports in the US and world. But then again, who hasn't? lol Nothing like getting lost in Atlanta. Frankfurt wasn't much fun either. Dreaming of riding the world's fastest roller coaster? Want to know where America goes on vacation overseas? Apparently I'm not the only one in love with France.

Sport & Leisure - For the sport fan in you! Baseball Stars, International Soccer, Hockey Highlights, Racket Sports, Golfing Greats, Water Sports, Auto Racing, Sports Media and Leisure Pursuits.

Other tantalizing details include information on coffee consumers, celebrities, crime, diseases, economies, Emmy Awards, literary awards, musicals, Nobel Prizes, Olympics, Presidents, poetry, plays, languages, telecommunications, unemployment and the all important sugar consumption.

Pretty amazing information when you think of all the time it took to collect this data. If you love trivia, want to expand your general knowledge or are just darn curious, you will love paging through this 2004 edition.

~The Rebecca Review

This book of fascinating lists is divided into the following chapters: The Universe and Earth (the galaxies, stars, continents of earth etc.), Life on Earth (all about animals), The Human World (about health, the body, etc.), Town and Country (info on the countries of the world), Culture and Learning (including fascinating information about languages), Stage and Screen (lists include DVD, video and movies), Commercial World (including websites, advertising, science an technology), Transport and Tourism, Sport and Leisure (including the Olympic Games.)

The Music section offers interesting sections on songs and songwriters, record firsts, stars of the decades, all-time greats, chart toppers, gold and platinum, music genres, broadcast music and movie music. The particular lists include Most successful songwriters, Rock songs of all time (Satisfaction, Respect and Stairway to Heaven to name the first three), Most popular bands through the decades, etc. The biggest singles of all time has Candle In The Wind at number one and biggest album honours is carried by The Beatles with St. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

The book contains more than 700 lists and many short paragraph features elaborating upon important topics, like for example the first million selling record. The text is enhanced by color pictures and the book concludes with a bibliography reflecting the aforementioned chapter headings and an index. The Top 10 Of Everything 2004 is a fact-filled and up-to-date reference work and also offers hours of fun for the casual reader, no matter what their hobbies and interests are.

The appeal of top ten lists goes back in the west to at least the Bible where we have the Ten Commandments, and in the east there are the yamas and niyamas of yoga that are ten in number. Ten is the basis of our number system and ten are the digits on our hands and toes.

So it is not surprising that we love things in ten. Included in the top ten reasons that David Letterman is still doing late night comedy is his top ten list. And here we have a book biz phenomenon now into its 15th Edition: The Top Ten of Everything.

Well, not quite (but never mind). The emphasis here is on the famous and the popular: ten richest men (Bill Gates is #1, but Warren Buffett is closing in), ten richest women (Alice L. Walton of Wal-Mart is #1); ten biggest buffos at the box office (men: Harrison Ford; women, Julia Roberts); highest paid sports stars (Alex Rodriguez, $252-million when he was with the Rangers), popular singers, films, songs, poems (William Blake's "The Tyger" is the most anthologized, but Dylan Thomas's "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night" is the "most popular").

The top ten most populous cities are listed (Tokyo is #1) as are the top ten most populous countries (the US is #3 behind China and India). I was surprised to learn the production of corn now exceeds that of rice and wheat. The top ten list of religions has Christianity at the top with Islam second, Hinduism third and "non-religion" fourth. Atheism is #7.

Some science is included. Oxygen is the most common element in the earth's crust with silicon second and aluminum third. The deadliest spider is the banana spider from Central and South America. (The black widow is fourth.) The largest butterfly is Queen Alexandra's birdwing with a wingspan of eleven inches.

Every page contains color photos supporting the text with plenty of shots of movie, sports, and record stars along with animals and just plain people. The text is set off in boxes with white backgrounds for easy readability.

I spent a couple of hours with this book. It's addictive, like eating chocolates. I kept turning the pages. You could just buy a world almanac and get more info, but this book is more fun and easier on the eyes.

Russell Ash who heads up the team that put this book together (led by Senior Editor Nicki Lampon) asks for ideas and corrections. Here's an idea for the 16th Edition: "Top Ten Most Visited Websites"; indeed a section on the Internet would be great. (You're welcome. Just send me a copy of the new book!) And here's a correction. One page ten it is written that "Ganymede is the seventh-largest of Jupiter's moons." Actually it's the largest, and in fact (as noted in a list on the same page) it is the largest moon in the solar system.

This is the 15th edition of this book. I just went through it for the first time this week. Suffice it to say, I will be reading this book many times over in the near future. This book is loaded with cool facts. It's fun to read, and it will intrigue you for hours on end.

The book is divided into the following chapters:

The Universe and Earth
Life on Earth
The Human World
Town and Country
Culture and Learning
Stage and Screen
Commercial World
Transport and Tourism
Sport and Leisure

Each section contains a group of lists. The cool thing about it is that the source is listed so the information can be cross referenced and verified. There's also wonderful pictures throughout.

There are some omissions I wondered about. In the natural disasters section, there is no list for the most distructive tornadoes. Whatever the author's reasons, more things are included in this book than are omitted.

The Music section offers interesting sections on songs and songwriters and all the basic benchmarks of best selling music. The biggest single of all time: Candle In The Wind by Elton John. Biggest album: The Beatles with St. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

The book contains more than 700 lists and many short inserts that explain more about a subject. The text is complimented by the many stunning pictures in the book. The bibliography and index are also both very useful. To top it off, the publisher spared no expense and the print quality is great!

The Top 10 Of Everything 2004 is a great book filled with great info. This book can certainly be used by scholars and trivia junkies alike! Buy this book now!

I am a major Grease fan and I thought I knew it all. I have even had people try to stump me before and they were never able to. Well this book did it !! It had so many facts that I didnt know about the movie and I considered myself the expert. Loads of fun for a Grease fan even if you just try to answer the questions on your own. Good luck!!

This isn't just a book, it's a party game! I thought I knew all there was to know about my favorite movie but this book showed that I still had lots to learn. I threw a GREASE party and used the book. WE HAD A BLAST!!!! It made the party! If you love the movie you have to buy this book.

I would give it a good rating. I love the movie Grease. I also love playing with this with my mom and Dad.

I am a major Grease fan and I thought I knew it all. I have even had people try to stump me before and they were never able to. Well this book did it !! It had so many facts that I didnt know about the movie and I considered myself the expert. Loads of fun for a Grease fan even if you just try to answer the questions on your own. Good luck!!

The husband starts telling me that the heart isn't really on the left side of the chest, it's just that the left ventricle is bigger, and why it developed that way. How did he acquire this arcane knowledge? Uncle John's "Plunges Into the Universe," of course.

My husband loves this book. I got it for him as gift (an entirely successful gift), and he keeps showing me things. Math Mnemonics: did you know that you can remember the order of Roman numerals (L, C, D, M) if you can recall "Lucky Cows Drink Milk"? In this book you can also find out more than you ever wanted to know about dead-skin-chomping dust mites, the teeth of elephants, space-travel foods developed by NASA, plus the ever popular "much, much more!"

Short articles full of fascinating trivia with a lively presentation -- the perfect gift for the geek-on-the-run who doesn't have time to read more than "Scientific American" articles but Wants To Know Everything Anyway.

This is an excellant book to use either as a reference for school or to read for fun (or both). This (as well as all of the others) is a great gift for anyone who is interested in learning about inner and outer space. All of the Bathroom books make interesting reading on a vast variety of subjects. As the saying goes,"Try it, you'll like it".

Lots of quick enjoyable reads in this book and a good laugh or two -- something for almost everybody. I especially liked the article about using flowers and fish to predict the weather... the sort of thing you'd only find in Uncle John. My hubby liked the info about the sturdiness of houses built out of dung. He's ready to try it if our rent goes up again... Yep there's good stuff in this book.

I usually love this series of books, but apparently Uncle John has a new author/editor who is bent on trying to be cute and witty, which comes off trite and boring...even distracting. I used to pick up these books without a second thought. No longer the case.

I found that the trivia questions were far too preoccupied with what certain characters wore at various stages of their life. I would have preferred better questions, but that's just because I do not pay much attention to clothing, cars, and money. I care about characters, MEANINGFUL events and dialogue. To heck with the rest. Another thing, there were so many mistakes. Some names were wrong, but perhaps the author intended that for the final quiz question. But there was some incorrect information in the "Leafing through" sections and also in some of the quiz questions. However, there was some interesting information in this book on the Flowers in the Attic movie, Kristy Swanson and the quizzes were fun nonetheless.

This book includes quizzes on some of her books, puzzles and interviews. It makes you want to go back and read her books again and again! I am a true fan and own every one of V.C. Andrew's books!! She is the best!!

If you're a V. C. Andrews fan, then this trivia and quiz book is certainly a must-have. It contains a lot of information, though it only covers from "Flowers in the Attic" to "Midnight Whispers" (a brief summary of "Darkest Hour" is given though)--which is fine by me, because I thought her earliest books were her best anyway.

Most of "The V. C. Andrews Trivia and Quiz Book" is devoted to analyzing the fifteen novels with plot summaries, quizzes, and random facts for each one. There's an adequate two-page biography of V. C. Andrews, as well as a "Publishers Weekly" interview of her near the end, and a crossword puzzle (I have yet to even attempt it).

The last part of the book is devoted to the "Flowers in the Attic" movie, giving a scene-by-scene description, as well as an interview with Kristy Swanson, who played Cathy Dollanganger. While this section is entertaining, it seemed that Spignesi wanted to somehow work Swanson in to the book, because the interview begins to detour from "Flowers in the Attic" and V. C. Andrews after awhile; plus he includes part of her filmography and other odd info. I did enjoy Wes Craven's attempt at writing a script for the movie, though; it would have certainly been interesting if he had had his way with it.

While the book as a whole is very good, there were some rather pointless and unnecessary facts thrown in, like a list of common chapter titles (wow, someone had way too much time on his hands), and the whole "Leafing Through..." section was pretty much worthless; it just describes mundane things, like "4 of the Different Types of Clocks in Whitefern" and "10 Nasty Names Cindy Called Bart" (these are just two of many useless lists). But, overall, this is a terrific book. Spignesi really did his homework. Highly recommended, as well as "V. C. Andrews: A Critical Companion" by E. D. Huntley and/or "Faces of Fear" by Douglas E. Winter.

Wonderful book full of V C Andrews Trivia. If you love V C Andrews you will love this book. No V C Andrews fan should be without it! Highly recommended! Annalise