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Bigger Secrets: More Than 125 Things They Prayed You'd Never Find Out
A compilation of important and banal inside information such as the secret recipe for Oysters Rockefeller and the phone company's own unlisted numbers
244 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
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About the author
William Poundstone
55 books367 followersWilliam Poundstone is the author of more than ten non-fiction books, including 'Fortune's Formula', which was the Amazon Editors' Pick for #1 non-fiction book of 2005. Poundstone has written for The New York Times, Psychology Today, Esquire, Harpers, The Economist, and Harvard Business Review. He has appeared on the Today Show, The David Letterman Show and hundreds of radio talk-shows throughout the world. Poundstone studied physics at MIT and many of his ideas concern the social and financial impact of scientific ideas. His books have sold over half a million copies worldwide.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
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November 20, 2025A collection of America's "secrets" and revelations. I cherry picked a few that looked interesting and learned a few things. It's light fun. (spoilers ahead)
Mount Weather
Super secret fallout shelter in rural Virginia, built as a post-nuke command post in which the government would reassemble. The book shows its age in this entry (39yo and counting)--it's very impressed with the shelter's fully functional computer network and color monitors.
Three Card Monte
Some of the many methods card scammers use to fleece the rubes. Shills, card marking, sleight of hand.
The Levitating Woman
This was interesting. Typically accomplished with a powerful hidden metal arm and a hoop with a small gap, hidden by the hand. One variant uses a strong gooseneck arm that allows for an unbroken hoop.
David Copperfield's Disappearing Statue of Liberty
The live audience viewed the Statue through a proscenium, a free standing curtained stage. After the curtains closed, the audience was slowly rotated several degrees; they'd been seated on a secret, giant lazy susan. When the curtains opened, they were actually looking off to the side of the Statue. They couldn't tell due to the curtains and being half blinded by lights.
Alfred Hitchcock's Secret Images in Psycho
This was a nothingburger. The longer shots of the stabby-shower scene were a body double, and the corpse was superimposed over Norman Bates's face at the end.
Mount Weather
Super secret fallout shelter in rural Virginia, built as a post-nuke command post in which the government would reassemble. The book shows its age in this entry (39yo and counting)--it's very impressed with the shelter's fully functional computer network and color monitors.
Three Card Monte
Some of the many methods card scammers use to fleece the rubes. Shills, card marking, sleight of hand.
The Levitating Woman
This was interesting. Typically accomplished with a powerful hidden metal arm and a hoop with a small gap, hidden by the hand. One variant uses a strong gooseneck arm that allows for an unbroken hoop.
David Copperfield's Disappearing Statue of Liberty
The live audience viewed the Statue through a proscenium, a free standing curtained stage. After the curtains closed, the audience was slowly rotated several degrees; they'd been seated on a secret, giant lazy susan. When the curtains opened, they were actually looking off to the side of the Statue. They couldn't tell due to the curtains and being half blinded by lights.
Alfred Hitchcock's Secret Images in Psycho
This was a nothingburger. The longer shots of the stabby-shower scene were a body double, and the corpse was superimposed over Norman Bates's face at the end.
June 28, 2025
I’ve made it a goal to read through all of William Poundstone’s books, as I’ve really connected with his writing on science, math, philosophy, and pop culture. Bigger Secrets is out of print, so I picked up a used copy on eBay. It’s his third book and the second in his “secrets” series. Like the first, this one covers some fascinating “secret” topics—though many feel dated now, 36 years later.
I especially enjoyed the sections on Russian and American spy tactics, secret societies like the Rosicrucians and Scientology, and the bizarre “Nobel Prize Sperm Bank.” There’s also a long stretch on magic tricks (or “illusions,” as GOB Bluth would say), which wasn’t really my thing. A lot of the other “secrets” have aged poorly and can mostly be skipped.
Bigger Secrets probably would’ve rated 4.0–4.5 stars when it came out in 1989, but in 2025 it’s closer to 3.5 stars.
I especially enjoyed the sections on Russian and American spy tactics, secret societies like the Rosicrucians and Scientology, and the bizarre “Nobel Prize Sperm Bank.” There’s also a long stretch on magic tricks (or “illusions,” as GOB Bluth would say), which wasn’t really my thing. A lot of the other “secrets” have aged poorly and can mostly be skipped.
Bigger Secrets probably would’ve rated 4.0–4.5 stars when it came out in 1989, but in 2025 it’s closer to 3.5 stars.
August 27, 2013
The rule of these "Secrets" books is this: as the name gets more grandiose, the secrets get less compelling. Still, this book is chock-a-block with great articles that I've read again and again. Rorschach Tests -- what your answers say about you; Rosicrucians; Masonic initiation secrets; hidden Disneyland; and lots more. Still, if you're only going to get one, make it the diminutively-named "Big Secrets" instead.
January 29, 2015
A classic of the genre, though a tad outdated now, considering blue boxing and telephones are much like dinosaurs today. There's a lot of cool secrets and explanations in this one, from Disney's Haunted Mansion to Oysters Rockefeller.
A great book to read if you're planning to join the Scientology cult, as this one tells you exactly what you'd be paying $12,000 (in 1986 dollars) to find out (hint: It's a really crappy sci-fi novel).
A great book to read if you're planning to join the Scientology cult, as this one tells you exactly what you'd be paying $12,000 (in 1986 dollars) to find out (hint: It's a really crappy sci-fi novel).
November 28, 2023
This book was published in 1986. I bought it new at a discount bookstore in 1993. I didn't read it until 2023. It is very dated. Only a couple of magic tricks and a couple of other items are still applicable.
January 4, 2008
From a chemical analysis of the Oysters Rockefeller recipe to quotes from a conversation with Dr. Bronner, the author goes all out to share this rather eclectic collection of secrets with his readers.
The research seems fairly well done - will need to double-check if there was a Notes/Bibliography section or not (book is not handy at the moment)
The research seems fairly well done - will need to double-check if there was a Notes/Bibliography section or not (book is not handy at the moment)
April 25, 2012
As always, I love these books. They're old and some of the myths debunked are still being passed around as true via the new interwebs thingy. Good little reads for when you only have a few minutes at a time to do so.
August 27, 2012
Over-hyped. Not quite so secret or so big as they would like us to believe.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews