Fact. Fact. Bullsh*t!: Learn the Truth and Spot the Lie on Everything from Tequila-Made Diamonds to Tetris's Soviet Roots-Plus Tons of Other Totally Random Facts from Science, History, and Beyond!

by Neil Patrick Stewart

Think you can spot the fake?

Think again. It's going to be a lot harder than you think to pick out the BS. Each entry hides one well-crafted fib among a pair of unbelievable truths. And it's up to you to figure out what's fascinating and what's fabricated on everything from koala bears to Confucius to high-fructose corn syrup.

Was Cleopatra the last Egyptian pharaoh?
Can you really make diamonds out of tequila?
Is the platypus actually poisonous?

A flip of the page reveals whether you're right or wrong as well as more information on the true trivia—and why you might've fallen for the fake fact. You'll really need to know your sh*t if you plan on correctly calling bullsh*t.

Genres: Nonfiction, Trivia, Reference, Comedy, Ebooks, Humor, Science

352 pages, Paperback

First published September 6, 2011

Reviews

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of difficult to get into, due to the quick-fire format, but fun to dip in and out of. Full of random information, and some really interesting lies. I could spot the bullshit fairly often (I love snopes.com for training my bullshit detector), but there were quite a few that slipped by me, too. It's funny how little I want to admit that latter.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed it, but one mistake kept me from rating it higher. He had as "fact" (saying it was a "gimme"), that Jefferson was the 4th president. What else did he butcher?

[Jim Razinha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun book, simple format: Three statements (paragraphs, sometimes), reader determines which two of the three are facts and which one is bullsh*t. Categories include animals, pop culture, famous dead people, foods, weird science, "sports and other wastes of time" and miscellaneous (synonymously "florigium", "omnium-gatherum", "gallimaufry").


One he had wrong was surprising:
“Thomas Jefferson was a governor of Virginia, the first secretary of state, the third vice president of the United States, the fourth president of the United States, and the principal author of the Declaration of Independence.”

And Stewart said, "Fact. That one was a gimme!" Nope. Second vice prez. Third prez.

[Louisa Giddings · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this book would of been fine with just the fact part towards the end it was getting a bit boring and I had had enough of the fact fact bullshit format.

[MELISSA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just had to skim this book. Could not get into it at all. Had it for 5 months and kept trying to get through it. Probably all on me and not the author.

[Mcf1nder_sk · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice little addition to any trivia fan's library, but more suitable to being pulled out during social gatherings, preferably drinking games.

[Ionel Buliga · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can you spot a lie? Can you identify the truth? Can you spot the difference in between those two concepts? If the answer is No, this could be a helpful reading for you.

[Dale · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a first for me in a way. Fact. Fact. Bullsh*t! was the first book I ever read on my phone thanks to the Kindle app for my android phone. In a way, this book was made for reading on a little phone screen. It is entirely composed of a topic with three "facts" that follow. After that the reader will find out that at least one of those "facts" will be correct and at least one will be incorrect, or bullsh*t as the title notes. The facts and the bullsh*t answers are explained.

This makes for fairly interesting short-term reading but it is not built for the long haul. This would be a great book to have for standing in line at the bank or if you have to wait for a bus or a train because you can get in and out of a topic in just a few minutes.

But...some of Stewart's facts are more factual than others. For example, he incorrectly states as a "fact" that Thomas Jefferson was the fourth president and the third vice president. In reality, he was the third president and the second VP.

When it comes to the NASCAR set of "facts" there are multiple problems...

Read more at: http://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2012/...

[Cheryl M-M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chinese Whispers..
This is a very entertaining book. Even the introduction is packed full of so called old wives tales and myths that most of us are guilty of repeating, because we think they are based on fact and completely true. So knowing the premise of the book I found myself thinking that I would spot the bullpatty with ease. Why would I think that you ask, well I am freakin brilliant with the inbred ability to spot a patty a mile off. Sounds a little impressed with ones own abilities, you might be thinking. Well you would be thinking right, because I would have failed this book colossally if it had been an exam.
So maybe there aren't any gigantic otters or super sleepy giraffes. Who the hell would have thought that a falcon is actually Polly Parrots secret sibling? My favourite part would have to be the Liger question section.

[Jon Wisniewski · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was enjoyable. You can look at it as sort of an educational humor book, or make a sort of game out of it. Either way, it's a good time, and there's a sense of satisfaction that comes with picking the right answer. And it's written by Neil Patrick Stewart! Reading through it, I thought "Surely this couldn't be THAT Neil Patrick Stewart, this author is far too irreverent and quirky, and Mr. Stewart seems so very serious." But sure enough, the About The Author page lists him as an actor and director. (And if that isn't convincing enough, his Twitter handle is @bald.)

[Theresa Abney · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't really think it through when I bought this book. I love trivia, but why on Earth would I want to read something that isn't true in a book of facts? What if I confuse some of the more reasonable lies with fact because I "read it somewhere". After a while, I started skipping ahead to see which bits were the truth, so I could just avoid reading the lies altogether. Furthermore, if you have the word "bullshit" in the title of your book, it quickly becomes very tedious to see "bullsh*t" every five seconds. If you're going to swear, commit to it. Go big or go home.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you have a trivia buff that you'd like to stump, this is a fun book. The author starts with animals and moves on to categories including pop culture, food, famous dead people, science, and sports, among others. If you want to win at trivia, this books a good read.

So, each 2 page topic has three facts (up to paragraph each) on a topic, and the goal is to pick out which one of the three is FALSE. I was good at some, but terrible at others! This would be a great book to read aloud on a long car trip...

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 facts, 1 load of crap can you tell which is which? There is a lot of useless information in this book. The world is filled with useless information that you never know when it will come up.
Knowing how things came to be, when they are invented and by whom is actually what this book is about, oh and the fact that the author mixed in Bullsh*t to make you laugh at yourself.

I totally enjoyed this!!

[Lynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun book to dip in and out of and to find out what you know or what you believed you knew but was in fact false. It was definitely American - some of the topics were completely unknown to me e.g. some kind of Mexican wrestling (I can't remember what it was called and can't be bothered to look!) I got it on Kindle Daily Deal and it was well worth the 99p.

[Katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

There were plenty of interesting things in the book that I didn't know about before. I especially liked how everything was answered in detail. Something that I would keep around so I can share random bits of knowledge.

[Melanti · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a fun trivia book.
But be sure to read the explanations behind the Fact/Bullshit statements. There's at least one place (Marie Curie) where the "Bullshit" announcement is on the wrong explanation.

[Dave Suvada · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun and quick read. It covered a large variety of topics. The author started each section out with three statements (all of which seem somewhat out there. Two of these statements are fact and one is bullsh*t! I surprised myself by guessing correctly on a little over half of them.

[Barb · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is loaded with details, some of which i would have liked to challenge. I would have felt better had this been a fictional book. lol However, i managed to finish it in between a few others. Not one i would read again. Probably not one i would ever remember reading either.

[Sherri · Rating 4 out of 5]

My family and I had a great time reading this on a long car ride recently. We tried to guess which of the three "facts" on a particular topic was actually a myth. We learned a lot of really useless information while we were at but it certainly made the 2 20-hour drives go a lot faster!

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unfortunate name and, like the "Book of General Ignorance", a bit inappropriate at times, but full of great facts. This one gives two truths and a lie and you guess which "fact" is actually fiction. The author then gives more information about each "fact". Lots of fun to read and guess.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting enough. I debate some of the facts, but on the whole it was a fun diversion of a read. Perfect for waiting rooms or planes. Might also be interesting to share with friends as a quiz for part of a trivia-themed night.

[Tricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loads of fun! A definite need to own book!

[Devlin Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice collection of little known facts...and lies. ;)

Devlin

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

not something I chose to read cover to cover in one sitting. we like to read this together and take turns guessing what the bs items are

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just started it, but has a great sense of humour while teaches (or unteaches) popular "wisdom" about a lot of things.

[DJ =^^= · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, easy read. Didn't read it straight through. Had fun quizzing some of my co-workers. :)

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

only read the sections on animals as that was about all that caught my attention :)

[Brandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great! I learned a lot, too. Very interesting and little known facts (well to me anyway).

[Solclover · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learned somethings odd, somethings sad, but many things funny!

[Erica · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is what I call a "bathroom book"- the kind of book you read a bit at a time, like when you are using the bathroom. It's interesting and informative- not something that you would read twice.