Random Obsessions: Trivia You Can't Live Without by Nick Belardes

by Nicholas Belardes

Did you know Thomas Jefferson’s grandson was an ax murderer? Don’t you delight knowing some dinosaurs were teeny tiny as hens? Before buying that plane ticket, don’t you NEED to know which exotic islands still have cannibals? Wonder what it’s like to live in Hell Town at the End of the World? How about an ailment so surreal it’s named after Alice in Wonderland? In Random Obsessions: Trivia You Can’t Live Without, historian Nick Belardes has dug into the raw source material found in historical archives, scientific studies, and libraries the world over. You’ll also read first-person interviews with people who can explain the unexplained, from the permanently puzzling Mothman conspiracy to secret Star Wars Jedi religious cults, and the charmingly eccentric reason why British aerospace engineers sent teddy bears floating out into space.

Truly trivia you can’t live without, Random Obsessions is filled with facts, lists, definitions, and astonishing information guaranteed to provide you with the best cocktail conversation for many years to come! Your guide, Nick Belardes, has devoted his life to poking around the peculiar and perplexing. Explore the unknown stories behind why the nation’s capitol didn’t stay in Philadelphia, why some fossils are smiling, and how, if Preparation H existed in the early 1800s, Napoleon would have won Waterloo. These real-world facts are outlandish enough to sharpen your brain and occupy your mind for hours of reading. This book is so fascinating and fun, you’ll become obsessed, too!

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

Mass Market Paperback

First published July 10, 2009

About the author

Publishers Weekly says shiningly about TEN SLEEP: “Belardes adroitly keeps readers guessing about whether his protagonists will survive their harrowing journey, while demonstrating a mastery of daylight terror." And that's not all. Library Journal cheers Belardes's latest eco-horror as a “coming-of-age, visceral Weird Western marked by palpable terror and populated by uncanny creatures."

TEN SLEEP is now available for preorder.

A writer of the American West, Nicholas Belardes’s books often combine elements of horror, fantasy, eco-horror, and science fiction.

And don't forget THE DEADING. The New York Times calls this debut a “dystopian eco-horror that perfectly balances social critique, lyricism and ghastliness. It’s a claustrophobic mosaic of a novel, and an outstanding debut.”

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Reviews

[Marie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked up A People's History of the Peculiar intending to learn some new facts. The cover of the book seemed very promising, as did the back cover blurb. Unfortunately, the interesting knowledge kind of ended there.

In the introduction, the author talks about his personal obsessions and interests, and that sets the tone for the book. This book didn't feel like a general knowledge book; it felt like a loosely cobbled together collection of anecdotes and facts that the author personally found intriguing... not necessarily things that the general readership would find interesting.

When I say "loosely cobbled together," I mean very loosely cobbled together. At times it was difficult to differentiate between fact and myth, and the transitions from subject to subject were often jarring. There was no standard length of an entry, either. Some facts would get two or three pages worth of information; some facts were barely skimmed over in two or three sentences. Even within the same chapter there was no uniformity.

I was also disappointed in the lack of background information and resource citing. The myth of the Mothman was given equal import to actual fact, such as the information about British aerospace engineers sending stuffed teddy bears into space. Some of the most intriguing items were presented with little fanfare and no reference to where the author acquired the information, leading me to wonder at the validity of the statements. Most notable, one of the items on the front cover of the book is presented completely without firm foundation. "The Secret Reason Napoleon Lost Waterloo," for instance: the author states that Napoleon suffered from severe hemorrhoids and that the reason he lost Waterloo was because it was too painful for him to ride a horse that day. The author doesn't cite any historic basis for this assumption. Was Napoleon actually suffering from hemorrhoids that particular day?

I recommend looking elsewhere for fun facts. The back cover says that this book contains "conversation starters." I wouldn't start a conversation with these facts; if pressed, I wouldn't be able to say with certainty that they were true!

[Xanthi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I listened to this on audiobook and I have to say, this book really didn't lend itself all that well to that kind of format. The text was very in sections and so jumped from one topic to the next very quickly. This is okay as a trivia style book (of which I read a lot of and enjoy) but as an audiobook, it just sounds abrupt, disjointed and often confusing. Just as you listen to one brief section about Topic A, Topic B is upon you straight away, and it is has nothing to do with the previous topic, and before you can digest that, here comes the next topic.
The other downside was that the narrator had an odd cadence. At times, he sounded very stilted in the way he pronounced some words.
The upside - this book at least felt like a 'taster'. It piqued my interest in many subjects I have only vague knowledge of. It has inspired me to go and find out more of the various topics the author covered in this book - and I take that as being a good thing!

[Barbara Chandler · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't get it

Reading the description of this book I ordered it immediately. The praise for the book at the start was glowing.
So why don't I understand the point of the book? I like knowing the why of things, but I'm not quite finding it here. So I thought I'd jump around, nope, that's not working for me at all, I end up thinking, Ya, so?
The writing is ok, not too many typos if you're bothered by that, I am. I will try some more but I don't hold any hope that I'll like it any better.

[Dave · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping for a book of random, interesting, and (as the title suggests) peculiar topics. What I got was a dry mish-mash of personal anecdotes and random information, and a mix of fact and fiction, without seeming to separate the two. There are much better, more intellectually stimulating and fulfilling trivia books out there.

[Kathryn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Those who check out my book reviews must become discouraged sometimes, because I usually love the books I read and rate them highly. Fear not, my friends; I have read this non-fiction book about trivial things, and found it worse than trivial.

The book did start out well, with items from history (considering, among other things, whether Napoleon lost the battle of Waterloo due to gastric trouble). The section on Troubling Ailments was also good. However, when the author got to odd facts about Films, he became deeply self-referential (his son is in a Harry Potter-themed band, which is nice, but nothing I really needed to know). And when the author got to Mysterious Places, he had the misfortune to pick a place I know fairly well, Point Pleasant, West Virginia (I went to elementary, grade, and junior high school some thirty miles north of the town); he managed to breathlessly report that the Mothman might have been responsible for the collapse of the Silver Bridge in 1967 - or maybe the bridge collapsed because the curse of Chief Cornstalk - or maybe Chief Cornstalk is the Mothman!

The book does have a bibliography of both print and internet sources, and the author does include snippets of letters from famous and infamous people; but, at least in the Kindle edition I read, to make sense of the Oddities in Art, I had to look up stuff on the Internet, because there were no illustrations.

It may be too much for me to expect a book of this nature to have footnotes, or for me to expect that the author will not bodily throw himself into the narrative every few chapters, but, on the other hand, I have read books on oddities and trivia that are much better than this book. I almost gave up on this book, and I very nearly wish that I had done so.

[♥ Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just to let you know: I didn't buy this book; I was fortunate enough to win it in a Goodreads giveaway (yay!).

I'm not sure if I would actually buy this book or not, but mostly because I am not a huge nonfiction fan. Regardless, this book was pretty interesting. It would be a good 'road trip' book to share with the family.

I really enjoy just browsing through it every now and then, because I happen to learn new cool (but sometimes useless) facts each time. Random patents, professions, prehistoric creatures - you name it, that topic just might be in there.

However, of course, the book is limited in scope. I think it would be really cool if the author published new editions, which focused on subjects in more detail. Therefore, readers can select those editions that are of more interest to them, and can find more material on those subjects.

Anyway, the book was pretty good. Random, as the author guarantees, and pretty interesting.

[Zoe · Rating 1 out of 5]

What is the point of this book? It brings up the occasional interesting story intro, only to move on to something else. The stories aren't fleshed out I any way. It's much more like a list of possibly interesting subjects to pursue, but with no inherent value in this publication.

[Nurshafiqa · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was a good read, even though ive heard and know most of the stuff in it there was some interesting parts.

i read this everywhere, on the bus, while eating, even on the toilet!

[Rose · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolutely terrible.

[Cynthia Herrin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not Recommended

Amateurish, random, more like browsing through Wikipedia--but without the depth. Parts of it seemed like advertising blurbs for travel destinations.

[Mira Sturdivant · Rating 1 out of 5]

is there even a single "interesting facts" book that is well-written, well-researched, and factual? I've never seen one. this didn't look like one. and it's not. they got me with the "people's history" title.

so.... this writer's idea of an compelling fact is that some people claim to have a fixation with the numbers 9-11 before and after the usa 9-11 attacks occurred. or that gwenyth paltrow has "once tried cupping" (not a single bit of history on cupping, just a line that says gwen once tried it). or that in world of warcraft you can get a shoe item that lets you teleport. at one point he just lists 25 cult-popular movies with a one sentence description for each, like I'd quickly write if my friend asked for movie reccs. this book is a messss.

one section about odd jobs simply says, "TOILET CLEANER: Can't imagine this is an especially good job if you work at a constipation clinic. Every school needs a janitor. Think of the stories you'll hear." Huh????

another says, "Medicine and art both descended from the same root: both originated in magic." and that's it. nothing else. just one poorly worded redundant sentence that hardly makes an ounce of sense. that's what you're in for throughout the book.

the very first section starts with suggesting that it's subject to debate whether or not the murdered women in salem were real witches or not. followed by a clearly coerced interrogation/"confession" by a literal enslaved child that our author calls a maidservant. sooo, not off to a great start.

it's all like that. ignorant history, poor understandings, really cringe subtitles. this guy will quote zinn then go straight into suggesting columbus was a chill guy. the man tells us it's a fact that we don't know if cryptids really exists or not. i mean.

this is the most poorly organized book. maybe the print version is better? in the libby version i can't even tell which titled sections are going to be new topics or the continuation of the last topic. every chapter begins with a boring old fashioned introduction that tells you exactly what the content on the next few pages will be.

It's like a guy had a document in his laptop where he hastily added every single thing he learned, and then published it, and no one even helped him edit it.

[Megan Millard · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love trivia books and I love the peculiar so this book seemed like a slam dunk. Nope. There was very little that was actually peculiar.

The author seemed like he wanted you to connect some dots about particular events or people, but then gives you absolutely nothing useful in which to connect the dots. My least favorite parts were the journal or letter excerpts from the people written about. The excerpts had nothing to do with anything. They were the most mundane things I had ever seen.

This is my example of how the text runs:

(Famous Person) may have had some excellent connections but that doesn't explain why he/she felt the way he/she did about the war. Here's an excerpt from a letter (Famous Person) wrote to (Someone No One Has Ever Heard Of) in 1884.

Dearest SNOHEHO,
Today the lilies were in bloom. It made me think of having gruel for supper.
All my love, FP

[Jeannie · Rating 2 out of 5]

A poorly-organized, mixed bag of fact and fiction that does not always delineate between the two. This reads like a passion project for the author, who offers many personal anecdotes and asides that tend to dominate over the actual "meat" of the collection. That said, the collection definitely suffers from a lack of cohesion between the book's (intriguing) title and the (rather dull) material inside its pages, as there is very little "peculiar" fact or history. Instead, what you get is a blend of generic facts coupled with supernatural musings and the author's personal asides.

[Dawn Piburn · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was like an accident - didn't want to look, but just had to.

Gave up after less than a third of the way through. Uncited sources ("experts say"), couldn't keep his political viewpoints out of the way - I was done.

[Sandra Strange · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a miscellany of interesting tidbits on all kinds of historical oddities. I enjoyed it, but some of the topics are not in children's interests, so it's really aimed at adults. It kept my interest through two long days of airport times.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reads like a twitter feed leaving more questions than answers. Had I known I would have skipped it in favor of something more informative and less (the author) self-promoting.

[Dougdixon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bit foolish...

[Kent Archie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did finish it. I should have left it in my abandoned folder. A list of very long movies isn't peculiar, it's just boring

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jumpy, not a good audio book, would be better if I had a hard copy.

[angelofmine1974]

No stars. DNF

My review of this book can be found on my Youtube Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/19qpFRf126E

Enjoy

[Matthew Reynolds · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mildly entertaining factoids. Some not as fact as they are trying to present it.

[Chris Phillips · Rating 3 out of 5]

Random Obsessions: Trivia You Can’t Live without by Nick Belardes ISBN 978-1-57344-360-9
Review by Chris Phillips
Random Obsessions is a book of trivia. Not just any trivia, but trivia as defined by Brad Listi, “… a pleasant reminder that no one knows what the hell is going on around here” (Foreword, pg. x).
Belardes, in the introduction tells the reader, that his love of trivia began with maps. All the details and hidden places that can be found were just such trivia to him. Since he wrote the book with that in mind, maps or at least the interesting little points on a map, are what the reader finds. “Maybe Random Obsessions is a book of maps after all. Unfolded it becomes a doorway” (Introduction, pg. xii). A very long bibliography documents where he got the information he presents. He outlines numerous books, even more numerous online sites and finally 28 separate interviews, revealing the extent that he the extent he has gone in digging to find the interesting facts that he included in the volume.
The sections “Amassed From the Past” through “Odd Occupations” ending with “Mysterious Places,” are filled with little known tidbits to start, end and enhance conversations among one’s friends and family. Although the various individual items could be found by anyone with sufficient time and internet access, treating them as random thoughts, as the title implies, allows the reader to use the book as a conversation piece. So once the book is opened, a random page and item on the page should be picked and a conversation started around that item.
There are little known tidbits gleaned from the books mentioned above. Throughout the text Belardes annotates the original source of the material frequently, but not obsessively. As the stories and bits come together his dry humor comes through with surprises from time to time.
Among the curious inventions culled out of the U.S. Patent office, Belardes jests about a “Shock Game … Do you really want to play? What garage was this invented in?” (pg. 106). This displays the humor that he brings to the book occasionally. The facts are believable, even if just from the size and extent of reference materials, but some definitely would benefit from a photo or illustration like that other collector of trivia, Mr. Ripley uses. Many of the facts are not really new as they can be found in other sources; all are interesting only because Belardes puts them in strange relation with other obscure facts; and several are held there by his humor.
If a conversation starter is needed for a party that seems to be falling flat, using the book as recommended above may save the day or at least the evening. If the reader has no such need as that, then perhaps this book should be filed with the other tomes of trivia generated by the long standing trivia addiction this country has. It is recommended for any that just want to have odd facts within reach, but don’t want to use their computer.

This review published through www.bookpleasures.com

[Connie Gruning · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, that’s weird!! Yup, I said that almost every single page! What a FUN book for trivia lovers like myself. Author Nick Belardes has a hit on his hands! I love learning odd tidbits of weird and random things. This 244 page book is jam packed full of interesting and unique facts. Everything from small glasses, DIME SIZE glasses where strapped around the head to aid in DRIVING?!?! Glasses the size of dimes?!! Ummmm no thank you.
Truly interesting cover to cover!

[Robert Dale · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love trivia. I randomly saw this book on my library website and downloaded it as an ebook. the book was a collection of short trivia facts that are loosely collected in chapters. I learned a few new things, but think the book could've been more fleshed out with each trivia fact.

[Mr.B · Rating 2 out of 5]

Random trivia. Mostly accurate, sometimes interesting. Poorly organized and largely dull. I can't believe I read the whole thing. Took me a year, but I stuck with it. It's the kind of book you can read a few pages or less at a time. Bathroom reader.

[Amanda Gentry]

Random is right. This book is written in such a random fashion that it's not worth the trouble to follow.

[Kim Heimbuch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Posting soon

[Ci · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nick Belardes worte a little book of "what-if's" and multiple fascinating theorizes. The content wasn't always relevant to a theme of any kind, but none the less captivating.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book of Semi useless but interesting facts!

[Johnny Leon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some pretty random stuff in this one. A good bit of pseudoscience and not a lot of sources are cited. For every 10 lame facts, there is one pretty interesting gem. All and all just an ok book.