- Paperback: 224 pages
- Publisher: Summersdale (3 Sep 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1840246065
- ISBN-13: 978-1840246063
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 314,853 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Paul Henderson, The Bookseller, June 2007
'My favourite paperback title of the year'
Exepose magazine, 21st January 2008
"Will appeal to anybody who likes or has a slightly twisted sense of humour."
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book appears to have been written by some slightly backward teenager who has had the embarrassing misfortune not to be clearly told that they neither amusing or clever prior to publication. It's an uninformative, cringing read devoid of all real wit, charm or quirky facts.
The authors unfortunate belief that they are endearingly humorous only serves to make the book more painfully unfunny. The questions posed are simply inane, making the answers equally so. Any adult reader will find it's content and level of humor insulting at best. Without any, of the no doubt intended, child-like charm the book lacks even the barest glimmer of real amusement or interesting information. Don't waste your time or money on something this pointless.
The authors unfortunate belief that they are endearingly humorous only serves to make the book more painfully unfunny. The questions posed are simply inane, making the answers equally so. Any adult reader will find it's content and level of humor insulting at best. Without any, of the no doubt intended, child-like charm the book lacks even the barest glimmer of real amusement or interesting information. Don't waste your time or money on something this pointless.
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
...and it's not clever!
This supposed "parody" of such great New Scientist books, Does Anything Eat Wasps? and Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze? really falls short of the mark. Just as a couple of examples, on pages 130-1 you can learn that toasters have a setting that allows you to burn the toast due to a disgruntled employee in the factory that manufactured the first toaster changing the design, causing "high levels of lung disease, skin cancer and sooty warts" because of the increased levels of carcinogens on burnt toast. On the very next pair of pages (132-3) you can chuckle away to the fact that although regular use of sun beds is "dangerous and can cause skin cancer", it does allow our armed forces to build up an "Outer Defence System" reducing "burn damage and death in a bomb explosion". HI-LAR-IOUS I'm sure you'd agree!!!
Granted, I've picked a couple of the poorer examples, but they are by all means not the only ones that bad included in the book.
Why bother parodying books that were both informative and humorous in their own right by removing the information, and using humour that is at best childish, and at worst verging on offensive???
One to avoid!
This supposed "parody" of such great New Scientist books, Does Anything Eat Wasps? and Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze? really falls short of the mark. Just as a couple of examples, on pages 130-1 you can learn that toasters have a setting that allows you to burn the toast due to a disgruntled employee in the factory that manufactured the first toaster changing the design, causing "high levels of lung disease, skin cancer and sooty warts" because of the increased levels of carcinogens on burnt toast. On the very next pair of pages (132-3) you can chuckle away to the fact that although regular use of sun beds is "dangerous and can cause skin cancer", it does allow our armed forces to build up an "Outer Defence System" reducing "burn damage and death in a bomb explosion". HI-LAR-IOUS I'm sure you'd agree!!!
Granted, I've picked a couple of the poorer examples, but they are by all means not the only ones that bad included in the book.
Why bother parodying books that were both informative and humorous in their own right by removing the information, and using humour that is at best childish, and at worst verging on offensive???
One to avoid!
10 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It's painfully embarrassing to read. The experience is similar to listening to a 13 year old girl on the bus who's watched Catherine Tate and thinks she's hilarious repeating catchphrases. I actually went red reading it I was cringing so much.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Truly dreadful
A semi-spoof of the New Scientist books, such as `Does anything Eat Wasps?', Sarah Herman's `Does Anything Eat S***' is a highly disappointing read, and captures little of the fun... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Mr. D Burin
Why, Gus, Why?
If the explanations given in this were part of a narrative (a la Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's trilogy), they might actually have me in stitches. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Susheel John
Blank paper would have been a better gift.
If, like myself, you've been unfortunate enough to have received this apology of a publication as a Christmas gift then I heartily recommend you don't waste any of your time even... Read more
Published on 4 Jan 2009 by Mrs C Anderson
A complete waste of money
I love books which pose odd questions and books that have information on everyday things (like what is a plimsol line and what are the words to god save the queen), this book does... Read more
Published on 18 Feb 2008 by Chris
One of the funniest reads ever!!!
i'd never heard of the set of books like WHY DONT PENGUINS FEET FREEZE? and DO ANTS HAVE ARSEHOLES? but i've got to admit im glad my sister bought me it for xmas! Read more
Published on 24 Jan 2008 by Jasper
Great stocking filler
A friend gave me this hilarious read as an early Xmas present. It's an addictive, dip in read, which saw me finish the book within a week of reading a couple of facts or brilliant... Read more
Published on 14 Dec 2007 by Mo
a must read!
i found this book browsing through the humour section at my local bookshop and bought it. I instantly fell in love with the whitty answers to the questions posed and read it cover... Read more
Published on 20 Sep 2007 by superdudereader
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