The Book of Useless Information

by Louis Weber (CEO)

The Book of Useless Information addresses virtually every imaginable topic, from the most unusual tourist attractions in the United States to the legend of Dracula.
This 704-page padded hardcover book contains 250 articles, statistics, facts, trivia, and lists that range from absurd to useless to hilarious.
Readers learn about the deadliest diseases of the 20th century, the craziest entertainment acts of all time, the world's most unusual museums, the most outlandish laws on the books, the biggest Hollywood blunders, the most dangerous jobs, and much more.
Quirky illustrations enhance the stories.
Sample chapters include: The Unexplained, Science and Technology, The Arts, History, Around the World, and Death and the Macabre
The Book of Useless Information provides hours upon hours of fascinating reading for anyone with a curious mind. Makes a wonderful gift for trivia buffs.

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, Trivia, History, Science

704 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Randall Feldman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The perfect bathroom book.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

   This was pretty much a gag Christmas gift from my husband, probably at my encouragement while we were shopping in Kohl’s two years ago. It is mostly arranged by general subject, and they have some interesting chapters for sure – including one on death (mostly humorous and informative). I even read the chapters about sports and found some interesting nuggets – considering I’d summarize gameplay of most team sports as “Team A sported better than Team B.” Of note was where the Cubs got their name, which is from the White Sox – I definitely sent information that to a friend whose favorite team is the Cubs! I especially enjoyed the history, science, and linguistic/quote sections. There were some topics I had heard of, and many more I hadn’t. It does show its 13 years a little bit, as I’m pretty sure some of the “world record” and “currently”-type facts have seen updates since. Though I wouldn’t say the illustrations were that “quirky” – there were not even that many, considering the number of pages in this book, and I’d say they only way they classified as “quirky” is if you think their style itself is quirky. There were also some sections of good quotes (of special note, the section of quotes on stupidity) – it was always a treat when a section ended with some related quotes instead of going straight to the next section. In general, this useless knowledge was far more like fun facts that you didn’t realize you wanted to know. Now, to memorize this and see if it will help me get on Jeopardy! …can’t hurt to try, right?

[Jason Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty lame. Surface-level 'did you know' kind of information. Unless you live under a rock and don't know a thing about the world around us, this book is a waste of time.

[Bri Barkley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this cover to cover and while there was some interesting information, a lot of it was really outdated. The pop culture references were mainly from the 1930's to 50's which is cool I guess but for those of us born after 1990, have no clue who these interesting people are. This book would make a nice bathroom book to glance at every now and again but maybe don't waste your time reading it cover to cover like I did

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

A part from one page where it actually contradicts itself, this book is a pretty fun and engaging read. I originally picked this book up because I had a little bit left on a Barnes and Noble Gift Card and I'm glad I did. Though my favorite chapter was the one on death so I think their might be something wrong with me.

[Kenya Starflight · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a fan of the "Uncle John's Bathroom Reader" books, and so a book like this full of random facts and useless trivia seemed right up my alley. It's entertaining enough, and contained a LOT of weird and strange (and fascinating) information, grouped into categories for easier perusal. It's not written with the same sort of witty sense of humor as the bathroom readers, however, and there are times when it feels like the writers are trying too hard to be funny. And the artwork interspersed throughout looks a lot like random clipart -- which, you know, isn't a terrible thing, but at least try to find clipart that matches instead of twenty random styles.

All the same, there's still a lot of fun material in this book, covering everything from rocket science's roots in the occult to ironic deaths, from the famous Winchester mansion to unusual restaurants, from celebrity facts to strange name places. There's a little of everything in here for everyone, and while not as witty and funny as the Bathroom Readers, it's still an entertaining trivia read and a decent "bathroom book" of its own.

[Tom Darrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty average as trivia books of this type go. Contains 1-3 page articles on a variety of topics from food to history. It has a couple of problems compared to other books, like the Uncle John's Bathroom Reader series. First, this book was published about 10 years ago, so a lot of the pop culture trivia is outdated and there are a lot of stories that you can find in other books. Second, the articles are rather amateurish in their writing, not as in depth as other books. Third, the articles are organized topically, so all of the science articles are together, followed by all of the geography articles. The unfortunate thing about this is that is that you get about 25-30 pages of the same type of story, so they get a little boring towards the end.

Overall, a decent collection of trivia, but there are other better ones out there.

[Dan Stern · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book from cover to cover and found lots of useful information. Sometimes, a person may think they know everything. A book like this shows how wrong we can be. It is not useless information. When i was finished with this book, i took it to the local seniors complex. It is now being read many, many times. Thanks Amazon for enriching my life and many seniors.

[Jesse Scobie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This third "Book of" I read this year was ok, a decent entry, but not as interesting as the other two, "Extraordinary Knowledge" and "Unusual Knowledge". There were numerous redundant fact and trivia lists, pages and stories. Still, a wide variety of topics (20+ chapters) like the other two.

[Joey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in short bursts over the last few years. It's the equivalent of pulling up a random Wikipedia article in your downtime, and it's a lot of fun. I sometimes find it challenging to seek out topics outside of my areas of interest, so a book like this was a welcome change.

[Elizabeth Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always love a book that includes trivia, so this was fun!

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting at times.

[Angelina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3/5

What a weird book to sit down and read, and yet here we are.

[Sheri-lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gifted to Steve by a colleague. Literally useless info. Read it because I’m between books and it’s Covid and the library is so slow. 🙂

[Sarah Holder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of random facts that only people like me care about. A lot of things I already knew, but a lot more I didn’t. It was pretty cool.

[mariaemmorey 🧸ྀི · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finishing a 600 paged book about useless information is fun. Recommend.

[Nancy Cook-senn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and intriguing!

[Lo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some interesting info and a some useless information.

[William Schram · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was interesting. A lot of the facts I knew already and most of them are totally unnecessary to know. Throughout the book, it talks about a number of subjects, from politics all the way to pop culture. While it is quite informative, it does live up to the title by being full of info that is quite useless.

[Lizabeth Tucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the title says, this is a thick (704 pages) collection of facts from the worlds of science, history, and more. Think RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT! or STRANGE BUT TRUE, except in slightly more detail.

This is what happens when you check the book section of a big box buying club. I also picked up The Book of Amazing History, an equally large collection of facts. Love this type of book! Great for those who just need small bites when waiting for their child to get out of school, for bathroom reads, or breaks at work. Easily picked up, easily put down without losing your train of thought. 5 out of 5.

[Ojan · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the title says, most of the information would be useless as anything other than small talk with friends when you're bored or to help you make it to the Jeopardy finals. I found it fascinating nonetheless. The layout inside was well organized. Nothing was so detailed as to make you lose interest before finishing a portion about a subject that doesn't excite you. There was just enough to keep you reading, and enough to entice you to look up more detailed descriptions elsewhere. (which I did a few times). Well worth the read.

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is no author listed for this book, so you get the idea that some corporate types were sitting around one day saying, "Let's write a book about everything. Ed, you do this part, Phil, that part, and Gladys the other part." There's nothing overwhelmingly interesting here and I did learn a few things, but overall this is just a compendium of whole bunch of stuff put together in one cover. Not great, but not horrible either.

[J G · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reads a lot like a bad text book. Strings of random facts without context. Every once in a while there was something interesting or worthwhile, but mostly I found myself skipping pages.

[Shane Bowman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this as a gift in 2012 and it's my 'bathroom' read for 2013.

[Susi Mirick · Rating 3 out of 5]

a lot of interesting "facts" (and i use that term loosely as i found some errors but i will leave those to you to find) but really only useful if you are going to be on Jeopardy

[Gillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am enlightened.

[Ian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Its like internet click-bait in book form. Harmless and easy to page through, but extremely superficial.

[S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned so much useless information that everybody is jealous of my useless information filled brain
Overall, solid book that I read from cover to cover.