QI: The Book of General Ignorance - The Noticeably Stouter Edition

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Hassan commented: "Anna’s and James’ book is as joyful and fact-filled as you’d expect from the QI Elves but the storytelling is utterly involving and entertaining too. You’ll be rooting for a Taiwanese tug of war team, be outraged by croquet skullduggery, admire the audacity of sporting history’s greatest cheats and discover the pure delight that is Puppy Bowl. Response to the book has been mostly positive, both critically and commercially. Critic Jennifer Kay said, " The Book of General Ignorance won't make you feel dumb. It's really a call to be more curious." [18] Liesl Schillinger in The New York Times praised the book for gathering "so much repeatable wisdom […] in one place," asking the rhetorical question of interested parties—"In the Information Age, can you afford to remain ignorant of these precious factoids?" [19] Ptaszynski and Harkin are senior researchers, writers and script editors for the BBC’s "QI", and two-fourths of the "No Such Thing As a Fish" podcast. Between them, they have authored 13 books with the "QI" Elves and toured shows across the world. I'm sure there must be folks out there who hate random snippets of knowledge and don't care who actually invented the telephone, why geese were once thought to be a kind of fish or even a vegetable, whether one can die by eating too many potatoes, what Richard Gere's middle name is, or which nation consumes the most Spam. But in all honesty, I don't know why any of them would buy this book. Mitchinson, John; Lloyd, John (5 October 2006). QI: The Book of General Ignorance. Faber and Faber. pp.xv. ISBN 0-571-23368-6.

QI book by Harkin and Ptaszynski Faber scores sporty new QI book by Harkin and Ptaszynski

Doug Brown reviewed the book for Powell's Books, noting that it has a "UK-heavy emphasis", and that "Overall The Book of General Ignorance is a lot of fun, and you're guaranteed to learn something you didn't know (but thought you did)." [20]The Book of General Ignorance contains a list of 230 questions, most of which previously appeared in episodes of QI. Each question explains the correct answer, and usually attempts to show why people tend to make the wrong assumptions, or believe certain myths. Each book contains two forewords, one by Fry, the other by Davies. Davies' initial "foreword" was credited as "Four words," which read simply: "Will this do, Stephen?" [17] Critical reception [ edit ] An earlier version of the cover, playing on the idea of ignorance with a typo It's also true that a lot of the facts rely on fake questions or answers that rely on technicalities. For every few questions that's like "What's the driest place on Earth?" which is followed by a suitably surprising yet factually correct answer - a logical pairing of straight question and straight answer - there's a question that misleads you or an answer that feels rather smug; the QI equivalent of saying "Which hand is the 10p coin in?" when it is, in fact, in neither hand (or as this book would have it, "It's not actually a coin because..." or "These aren't actually hands because...") While most episodes are structured around a theme topic beginning with the Series' initial letter (each Series is alphabetically structured, with Series 5 being "E", etc.), "General Ignorance" contains questions on a range of diverse subjects, linked only by common misunderstanding. Occasionally the round differs, in particular during the Christmas specials. During the course of the "B" Series special, Fry and Davies swapped places for "General Ignorance", with Fry attempting to answer questions ostensibly written by Davies to stump him. [15] During "D"s Christmas Special, all the "GI" questions revolved around saints. [16] Structure [ edit ] a training tool for 119 agents to familiarise themselves with the various booking journeys so they can support the public a b Garrett, Kirsten (12 March 2007). "The Book of General Ignorance (review)". ABC Radio National . Retrieved 10 February 2008.

QI: The Third Book of General Ignorance: Qi: Quite Interesting

It has a huge variety of interesting facts covering a massive variety of subjects, there truly is something to interest everyone. From common myths (such as swimming after eating, strongest muscle in the body, etc.) to just plain interesting facts that you never knew, you will be pleasently surprised by how much you thought you knew and didn't! On 1 November 2007 another QI spin-off title was produced: The QI annual, intended as a continuing work focusing on the Series' alphabetic themes. [26] The annual featured contributions from most of "QI"s guest panellists and the comedian Rowan Atkinson. In 2010 the second book of General Ignorance was released. And if you're a fan of the show, possibly the best bit of the book- at the end of some (not all, I'm guessing it's the chapters of the facts that have been discussed on the program) of the chapters, there are quotes from various panelists that will have you laughing out loud!

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Davies, Alan; Lloyd, John; Mitchinson, John (5 October 2006). QI: The Book of General Ignorance. Faber and Faber. pp.xv. ISBN 0-571-23368-6. As an extra added bonus for fans of the show, there are snippets of dialogue from various episodes, which are generally funny and sometimes howlingly so.

222 QI Answers to Your Quite Ingenious Questions by The QI

This book is just fun to read, alone or with your spouse or friends. And it broadens your horizon. Even if you don't plan on attending a trivia-gameshow anytime soon, your newly acquired knowledge will be beneficial when the need for smalltalk arises. [21]As I didn't have the earlier, slimmer, version of this book I have no complaints about a re-hash or being cheated. Anyone buying this book will get exactly what they expect and almost all will be delighted by that. I was! There was very, very, little in this book that I already knew and the real frustration is that, after every new fact, I thought "Wow, I'll remember that!" when, in reality, I can remember almost nothing. Schillinger, Liesl (2 September 2007). "The Book of General Ignorance: Everything You Think You Know Is Wrong". The New York Times . Retrieved 23 April 2008. A book of the show has become all but necessary, if only to allow us to ingest this information at normal brain speed, and because such fine and creative research genuinely deserves to be captured in print. So it's slightly disappointing that the book arrives in the question-and-answer format made so familiar by last year's big hit Does Anything Eat Wasps? There are actually about 20 such books out this year, all asking these quirky questions (Do Sheep Shrink in the Rain? Do Fish Drink Water?), all piled up in Waterstones, making book-buyers feel a bit depressed. [24]