Schott's Quintessential Miscellany

It's a good follow up to the original miscellany and has more information that many readers have probably never really thought about. A fascinating read and 'dip into' litter volume.

Fantastic read. Got most of them in the series. Worth it.

Condition was described as "good" but I think " acceptable" would be more accurate as although the pages were in good condition the cover is pretty scruffy.

I bought this book for my niece who is training to be a teacher. The facts are really interesting, the kind that come in useful when you least expect it. It would make an excellent addition to your reference library or a coffee table book.

Interesting and totally useless facts - ideal for a quizzer. Well presented though print is quite small. Handy pocket size for trains, planes and waiting anywhere.

great little book and a great price. I use the book for quiz setting and buying second hand is ideal for me

Read it from cover to cover! Use it as a reference book or just baffle and amaze friends and family with your knowledge. A great addition to the original and the food and drink edition

Very very, very small print of sometimes interesting, sometimes irrelevant facts but I buy these types of books a couple of times a year and find them worth a browse at the right price. Not as good value as other amazon warehouse book buys.

Obwohl als neu bestellt, kam das Produkt mit deutlichen Beschädigungen bzw. Lagerspuren an, siehe Foto.Das mindert natürlich nicht den Inhalt. Da ich das Buch benötige - die Lieferung war sehr schnell - sehe ich von einer Rücksendung ab.

I already owned a copy of Ben Schott's 2002 book "Schott's Original Miscellany". It lives next to the seat in the smallest room in my house, and over almost two years I have been SLOWLY savoring every page. It was a small, handsome book of about 150 pages, each of which was a trivia lover's delight and often inspired me to go on the Internet and learn more about a subject, e.g., the odds of drawing the top 9 hands in poker, or the names of all the people pictured on the album cover for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (both on the same page)! Unfortunately, at about 3/4 of the way through it I found myself reading more and more slowly, so as not to bring the discoveries to an end.Imagine my delight then when I learned that Mr. Schott had published a 2011 sequel, Schott's Quintessential Miscellany! Also about 150 pages, PLUS this time a nice little violet ribbon attachment to mark your place should one deem such structured behavior to be necessary for the enjoyment of what basically amounts to merry chaos. My favorite entry (so far) from the new volume is a list of 50 words beginning with "sn" that have to do with the nose (sniff, snout, snuff, snot, snore, etc., etc.)Who knew?

I appreciate that my order arrived earlier than expected as I had been very excited about finding this book!The packaging was well wrapped and showed little to no wear from shipping.The book was in excellent condition with no marks or creases.Thank you so much!!!

Alrighty, let's be honest. The only reason someone would by this is because they liked the original. That said, this is only alike to it by the smallest margin. It is mainly filled with quotes and random passages of text that aren't in the slightest possible way interesting. More on that, I don't mind religion, just please stick to using the CE, BCE abbreviations for time,

As a fan of trivial knowledge, and a great admirer of Schott's previous books, I was eager to read this new volume of "uncommon knowledge, vital minutiae, and indispensable irrelevance." These books are not designed to be read for hours at a time, but are quite enjoyable in short bursts.A random sampling of some interesting sections:- Occupations of note (A Knockknobbler is a dog catcher)- Bortle Scale (An astronomer's scale of sky darkness)- All of Alfred Hitchcock's movie cameos- Color markings for underground utilities...and numerous others. (Be sure to not miss the "Authorial Miscellany" on the last page!)While I found this newest edition to be fun, it seemed to hold my interest a bit less than previous versions. A number of entries were simply quotes or aphorisms ("A sound faith is the best divinity; a good conscience the best law; and temperance the best physic" - Anon.), or other facts that just don't seem relevant to modern time (or even students of history). Maybe Schott is starting to run low on miscellany?In summary, I would recommend that readers start by sampling his earlier works, and then come to this one if they're longing for more.