The Extraordinary Book of Useless Information: The Most Fascinating Facts That Don’t Really Matter

The Amazing Book of Useless Information

by Don Voorhees

There are more incredibly pointless and delightfully entertaining things to discover in this new entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.

You probably never knew…

• Ronald Reagan is the only president who has been divorced.
• It is estimated that half of the world’s spider species have yet to be discovered.
• November 15 is National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day.

And did you really ever have to know…

• The whiskers on a harbor seal are known as “vibrissae”?
• Modern scholars believe Isaac Newton may have had Asperger’s syndrome?
• In the 1920s, Hollywood made twice as many films a year as it does today?

Genres: Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published September 3, 2013

Reviews

[Jenn Hailley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book slowly over several months. It is a good book to leave beside the couch and to flip through on commercial breaks, or while having a quick cup of tea. Some of the facts were very interesting and definitely new to me (pills made out of dead babies from china sold to Koreans?), and others were completely mundane (Reagan was president of his college class)...in fact in my opinion there was too much about american presidents all together. But I got this book for 4.99$ on a sale rack, and it was worth every penny...I like books like this a lot...but perhaps some better editing would have made this a better book. Also, the author put little titles on all the sections, such as "bazooka gum" when talking about a guy who blew part of his face of with his bubble gum...more than insensitive, and not at all funny, and there were lots of these inappropriate titles...low class Voorhees.

[Lindsey Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for useless facts. A fun book to share with friends!

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very brief facts more appropriate for the back of a cereal box or the pre-movie slideshow than a book.

[Daniela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, it truly has useless information. I was just not expecting it to be boring too.

[Klaas Van Gend · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have the feeling that some pieces are not or no longer correct. I also don't care about sports, which makes a significant part of this book less interesting.

[Cat · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is indeed quite useless

I hace to admit that I got too excited from the amazing cover. But because I’m not from the USA so so many of these factoids went over my head. There’s a whole chapter about american sports (that I don’t even understand in the first place) and another about american geography (of which I am equally ignorant) and then another about US presidents that seems to go on forever. So basically, get this book if you’re an american, otherwise you will be mildly bored.

[Lyndsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the weird facts in this book, but I often found the order of the facts to be strange. They were vaguely grouped, but then would suddenly switch to something unrelated. They should've been either grouped or random, not a weird mix of the two options. Otherwise I enjoyed these silly facts and think you will too.

[Christy Frear (new account 2025) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The squirrel on the cover caught my eye (useless fact: I love squirrels). I also love random trivia/information. I gave it 3 stars bc some of the information is outdated at this point in 2025 (that’s no fault of the author—I picked this up at a used bookstore). I would check out a more recent book by the author for sure!

[Dan Stern · Rating 5 out of 5]

through it a little and enjoyed the random tidbits of information that the author compiled. When the brother opened it, he actually started reading it for a little while, which is a big win! This would be a great gift for various ages

[Sheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of facts.

[Mary Kamrath · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun trivia book and great when you just have time for a page or two. Fun and interesting facts in each chapter.

[María Jesús · Rating 1 out of 5]

A lot of the information in this book is false, which makes it really useless

[Min · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, the title says it all.
The facts are categorized by theme, be it science, sports, history, or another then listed by further theme such as record-breakers, scandals, or odd-yet-true, and offered in bursts of one or two sentences each.
It will make you feel a bit smarter for knowing if you love a bit of trivia. A lovely book for the bathroom. *


*part of me is greatly amused that "bathroom reads" is a category at all, and one that I use.

[Simon Yoong · Rating 2 out of 5]

Light reading .i really wished the author would expound more on the trivia rather than just spit out in rapidfire fashion.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the 'useless information' presented in the book was interesting, however this book failed to live up to other trivia/fact books that I have read in the past. The organization was a bit messy at times, and a majority of the facts were uninteresting.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a normal read in terms of sit down and read for a while.
This book is great to pick up and read for 5 minutes to relax, laugh, and perhaps learn some facts.

[Emmie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been relaying said useless information to everyone I know.