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Uncle John's Facts and Trivia
Uncle John's Weird Weird World: Who, What, Where, When, and Wow!
Beauty pageants, bad musicals, bizarre diseases, and it’s all covered in this collection of fascinating trivia and full-color pictures! It’s finally the book that Uncle John’s fans have been asking a full-color, illustrated edition featuring the most entertaining articles from the world’s bestselling bathroom trivia series! Hundreds of eye-popping photographs add a new dimension to Uncle John’s unique blend of trivia, humor, origins, history, science, and oddities. All the reader favorites are included—including dumb crooks, weird news, flubbed headlines, strange lawsuits, quirky quotations—and more. Now they pop off the pages like never before! So stimulate your visual cortexes as you read about . . . •Weird Beauty Pageants •40 Odd Uses for WD-40 •“Bagpiper’s Fungus” and other bizarre diseases •The Wild World of Weird Sports •The “putrified forest” at Tennessee’s Body Farm •The origins of Monopoly, the lava lamp, computer viruses, and B movies •World records that are so risky, Guinness won’t even report them •The all-time dumbest business decisions •Harrowing stories from history, including the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the Pilgrims’ uncomfortable ride on the Mayflower •The Toxic Travel Guide •How to cook with roadkill, get your TV show on the air, and more •Whatever happened to Nikola Tesla’s death ray? •Real-life superheroes . . . and much, much more!
- GenresNonfictionTriviaHumor
288 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 9, 2014
118 people are currently reading
453 people want to read
About the author
Bathroom Readers' Institute
286 books343 followersThe Bathroom Reader's Institute UJBR boasts more than 12 million books in print and a membership base topping 40,000 loyal readers . . .
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 7, 2015
I have been a fan of Uncle John's Bathroom Readers ever since my sister got me hooked on them years ago. They are fun and full of useful (and maybe a bit of useless) information. This classy hardbound giftable version is something you would want on the coffee table and not stashed in the bathroom where something could happen to it. You will find it full of interesting items that contains a cross section of lists and strange stories. If you are looking for a perfect gift for that person you never know what to buy for, this is it!
April 18, 2015
Wild Wild World This was a little break from my usual mysteries. Random trivia, served with no particular purpose in particular order. It was just begging for me to snuggle up to it. I was not sorry I did! Really fun book, covering everything from crime, science, humor to nauseating, queasy and squeamish. Great fun to read, even kids would enjoy it.
November 28, 2023
This might be #36 or #37 depending on who's numbering system you use
but it's new from 2023, since the first book in 1988
wiki
Gordon Javna retired from the series in 2016 after the Bathroom Reader offices in Ashland, Oregon were closed.
The series continued to be published by Portable Press, and the Javna brothers were described by Bookriot as not being directly involved with the publication of the Bathroom Reader books as of 2022.
John Javna has continued to write the introductions for subsequent volumes of the series, and he and Gordon are also listed as contributors to recent editions.
April 4, 2019
Once again Uncle John hits it out of the park with this fact and trivia-filled wordfest! If you're like me, you LOVE trivia; these books from Uncle John and the Bathroom Readers Insitute are some of the best books out there. Even if you don't read in the bathroom (I personally read more in bed than I do in the bathroom) you can still enjoy this book and enjoy having it on your shelf.
April 29, 2024
I loved stuff like this when I was a kid--collections of random trivia and strange (but supposedly) true stories. This was a nice break from my usual reading matter and took me back to the days of soaking up this sort of thing. Unfortunately, my memory now isn't what it was then, and I've already forgotten nearly every single little fact that I "learned" here. Regardless, this was a lot of fun.
October 20, 2021
Have not read an uncle John's in a while and now I want more!
January 31, 2022
Not a classic read but very entertaining.
March 10, 2015
Do you have a brain like a sponge? Do you love trivia? You will love reading Uncle John’s Weird Weird World. Readers will enjoy 288 pages of information you could use. This guide is perfect for reading in the bathroom, bedroom or on the road. Information about the lava lamp can be found here and it is a very interesting story.
If you are into Symbolic Origins then you can learn more than you bargained for about Biohazard, Star and Crescent, the Ankh and more. There are 40 uses for WD-40. It can remove grime from book covers, chrome in bathrooms, eases arthritis, cleans piano keys and cleans dog doo from tennis shoes. Curious readers will also find recipes for cooking road kill.
Why do police officers wear blue uniforms? In 1829 London, Bobbies wore dark blue paramilitary style uniforms. New York City adopted the colors in 1853. If you love a great festival, readers will find 12 of the most bizarre inside these pages. There is camel wrestling, Beltore Fire, Mike the Headless, Chicken Days and a mud festival too.
The Body Farm will tell you everything you wanted to know about decomposing bodies. Located in Tennessee and founded in 1971 by forensic anthropologist Dr. William Bass. An unidentified man from Tegelen, The Netherlands, died at home in 2003 He had called an ambulance because he felt sick, but died before paramedics arrived. The man’s home was full of dozens of pet parrots. Cause of death: asphyxiation due to over powering parrot flatulence.
The pages are filled with interesting facts and little known tidbits, along with things that will make you think. Brainteasers and anagrams can also be found amongst the weird and macabre. Uncle John’s reference guide has something for everyone. It’s so addictive you will want to use it with caution.
If you are into Symbolic Origins then you can learn more than you bargained for about Biohazard, Star and Crescent, the Ankh and more. There are 40 uses for WD-40. It can remove grime from book covers, chrome in bathrooms, eases arthritis, cleans piano keys and cleans dog doo from tennis shoes. Curious readers will also find recipes for cooking road kill.
Why do police officers wear blue uniforms? In 1829 London, Bobbies wore dark blue paramilitary style uniforms. New York City adopted the colors in 1853. If you love a great festival, readers will find 12 of the most bizarre inside these pages. There is camel wrestling, Beltore Fire, Mike the Headless, Chicken Days and a mud festival too.
The Body Farm will tell you everything you wanted to know about decomposing bodies. Located in Tennessee and founded in 1971 by forensic anthropologist Dr. William Bass. An unidentified man from Tegelen, The Netherlands, died at home in 2003 He had called an ambulance because he felt sick, but died before paramedics arrived. The man’s home was full of dozens of pet parrots. Cause of death: asphyxiation due to over powering parrot flatulence.
The pages are filled with interesting facts and little known tidbits, along with things that will make you think. Brainteasers and anagrams can also be found amongst the weird and macabre. Uncle John’s reference guide has something for everyone. It’s so addictive you will want to use it with caution.
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March 27, 2015Uncle John's Weird, Weird World: Who, What, Where, When, and Wow! is one of those books that you read in small doses so it won't be overwhelming. So many unique, interesting, and yes, weird items in this book!
One of the things that I like about the Uncle John books is that you can pick them up, open to any page, and find something interesting to read! What's different about this book is that it's illustrated. Who knew that pictures would make this series even better?
I wouldn't recommend actually taking it into the bathroom with you because, well, that's weird. But it would be great to read in the living room or before bed! This coffee table book would make a great gift, as there's literally something for everyone inside its pages!
One of the things that I like about the Uncle John books is that you can pick them up, open to any page, and find something interesting to read! What's different about this book is that it's illustrated. Who knew that pictures would make this series even better?
I wouldn't recommend actually taking it into the bathroom with you because, well, that's weird. But it would be great to read in the living room or before bed! This coffee table book would make a great gift, as there's literally something for everyone inside its pages!
January 20, 2017
This is one of the best trivia books out there. It is just so crammed full of information that you have always been wondering about, stuff you've never thought about, and oddities to get a few giggles out of you. I especially enjoyed the mistake sections, as I would read them to my brother during our reading time at night. This book just loaded me with all types of information that I could probably never use, but was good to have in the back of my head just in case. I loved firing random stuff at my friends and making them laugh. This is the kind of book that you want for whenever you got nothing else to read, or you need a quick read, or you just want to get some laughs/useless information. Would recommend to anyone that can read.
May 1, 2015
great book of the series!
February 10, 2015
Typical
Good ole Uncle John's. As always very entertaining!!! Can hardly wait for the next one. They are always so funny.
Good ole Uncle John's. As always very entertaining!!! Can hardly wait for the next one. They are always so funny.
July 20, 2015
This book is just too much fun. Everyone should have a copy in his or her bathroom for quick reads or in the car for long road trips. It's chock full of fascinating trivia.
February 27, 2025
Another funny uncle john collection. Great!
February 17, 2016
Ok.... A combination of Readers Digest and a Bill Bryson book. I prefer Bill Bryson any day.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews