Get it
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Put this by the side of the bed if you are going to a dinner party the next day and you want to shine. Bone up the night before and watch their tongues flop out with your amazing grasp of trivia!
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Fantastically pointless, yet very informative
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A book basically full of irrelevant information, facts from tables of Braille and Morse code to who has won the world cup and where, or a list of all the Kings and Queens of Britain. Ultimately a pointless collection of information from all over the place, yet great to flick through for odd tidbits of imformation.
So as one reviewer said, maybe not the ultimate book for pub quiz goers, but definately handy for some odd questions setting up one. Or purely out of interest for odd bits of information here and there and something interesting to flick through sitting on the loo.
Also a very nicely presented book, a nice hardcover (classy and minimal under the paper cover) and very well set out information that is very nice to read, with a very handy cloth bookmark (forgive me for not knowing if theres a proper name for it) you can mark out a page with for later reading with.
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Just awful
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This little booklet contains a lot of data but especially extreme trivia you don't want to know.
Interesting data is hard to find in it. To be avoided by avid quiz players or people with a broad general knowledge. You'll only be disappointed.After I perused it, I decided to give it away on the next quiz I would organise. No reason at all to keep it myself. Somebody won it. Poor guy.
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Wonderful book - everyone should have one!
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If there were a book that everybody should have on their bookshelf, this must be it! Full of all those intersting little facts that you know you know, but cannot remember where you saw them - this book is definitely the answer. An absolute bargain at under a tenner, this would be my ideal birthday present!
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A highly original and often amusing book of trivia
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Schott’s Original Miscellany is one of those rare books that can be read time and time again with fascination. Randomly choosing a page may present you with information regarding ‘American Diner Slang’ (did you know that ‘burn the British’ means ‘toasted muffin,’ or ‘Eve with a lid on’ is a reference to ‘apple pie’?) or perhaps you’d come across the diagram of Hampton Court Maze, complete with a guide to the fastest way to reach its centre. All one hundred and sixty pages of this remarkable book offer information you are unable to come across quite so easily elsewhere. From the names of all seven dwarves to boxing weight limits, and definitions of art styles (Gothic to Cubism) to contradictory proverbs (‘Great minds think alike’/ ‘Idiots seldom differ’), it’s all here. One of my favourite sections in the book was the ‘curious surname pronunciation’: Without Schott’s Original Miscellany I wouldn’t have known that ‘Featherstonehaugh’ was pronounced ‘Fanshaw’ or that ‘Auchinlech’ became ‘Af-lek.’ Another nice part was the ‘how to wrap a sari’ set of beautifully illustrated diagrams. There is information that could save your life, such as safe thicknesses of ice for different weights, (a single person on foot should not attempt to walk over ice less than 2.5 inches in thickness, for example) downright bizarre facts covering ‘curious deaths of Burmese kings’ (Tabinshweti for instance, was ‘beheaded by his chamberlains whilst searching for a fictitious white elephant’) and even a list of portraits on American banknotes. It is not only the material within the book that is impressive, but also the way in which it is presented: The simple yet charming illustration in red on the front cover and the textured cream paper dust jacket are aesthetically pleasing, whilst the red cloth the book is bound in and the simple silk bookmarker of the same colour are equally notable. It’s worth every penny of the asking price, and makes a superb gift. I highly recommend it – it’s a real treat.
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