What Makes Flamingos Pink?: A Colorful Collection of Q & A's for the Unquenchably Curious – The Fascinating and Enlightening Second Volume

by Bill McLain

Do spiders sleep? Why are barns red? Why is there a crescent moon on outhouse doors? Are zebras white with black stripes or black with white stripes? As the Xerox Corporation's official webmaster, Bill McLain often fielded as many as 1,000 questions a day on just about everything under the sun -- and beyond. The wildest, funniest, and even most astute are collected here (along with their answers) in McLain's second volume that's as fascinating and enlightening as his first, Do Fish Drink Water? A "veritable Internet legend known for having all the answers" (San Francisco Chronicle), McLain explains what keeps squirrels from toppling off telephone wires; why the skin on your fingers and toes shrivels up in the water; how seedless watermelons are created; and more. Whether it's animal, vegetable, mineral, or something completely different, the answer is bound to be as interesting as the question itself, and certain to satisfy the trivia hound in everyone.

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, Humor, Trivia

336 pages, Paperback

First published February 6, 2001

Reviews

[Jess the Shelf-Declared Bibliophile · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty interesting collection of random knowledge. It made for a fun read.

[Chris Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read a lot of these types of books, interesting facts, trivia, bathroom readers, you get the idea. This one has a lot of good and interesting information in it. My only beef is with the format. Each question has a "gag" tagline added to the end of it (ex. "What is the Heat Index? (This is a hot topic)) that I personally find very annoying. After the question has been answered there is a "Factoid" follow up, that presumably has to do with the main question, but often goes off topic, and then a "Did you know" follow up which is much the same.

All that said, some of the info is way cool - read aloud to others in the room cool.

[Mckayla brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every day i would honestly pick this book up and not want to read it because of how lengthy it is and its full of JUST facts. But i really loved this book and how interesting it is..... I learned so many new things. Like flamingos are pink because of what they eat such as algae. I loved knowing little facts like 50% of the time bank robberies are taken on a Friday. Who would of knew your eyebrows are there to keep sweat and rain drops from falling into your eyes?? I really wanna read another one of his books called Do Fish Drink Water??

[Emily Stroba · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good book but it took me a long time to get through it.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is one of my favorite books that I've read to this day. The book talks about random facts which are what you'd see on your basic trivia show. You don't really need to know any of the information, but it's still information that you'll love to learn. I really liked the one about Karl and Elana, as I already knew a little bit about that story. Hundreds of interesting facts that will make you want to keep reading! I'd recommend this book to anyone, as it's probably the best nonfiction book I've ever read.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, easy read. Great for before bed or bathroom. Short segments/facts about random things in life.

[Ronnie Cramer · Rating 2 out of 5]

An okay collection of random 'facts.' These books always contain plenty of errors, but it's fun to read a few entries at a time during odd moments that present themselves over the course of the day.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was AMAZING. I don't know why I loved it so much! It was just so interesting to learn all of these wacky questions! I really want to know how Bill McLain learned everything he did and put it into this book! I can't wait to read the second book!

[Elisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The most interesting facts I had already read in the Book of General Ignorance. The rest, I wasn't so impressed by. It's still entertaining and I learned some things.

[Shannon P · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the additional information beyond the answer to the question for that specific topic and the links to where more facts can be found on each subject.

[Anne Tomsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

No shame, this book is great. Learned a lot and it all is still true despite the book being oldish

[Stephanie H · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'll be honest. I didn't actually finish the book. I got as far as I could. The information is anecdotal in most cases, and in some cases grossly erroneous. What killed it for me what when the author presented a segment about geese and was referring to the most common variety as Canadian Geese, when, in fact, the correct name if the species is Canada Geese. This might seem like nitpicking on my part, but if the goal is to be informative, then you can at least start with getting the names right.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

My kids are always asking questions like this. The book is full of fun "FACTOIDS" I've been reading it to them at night and it's very interesting. And, no flamingos aren't born pink. They become that way because of what they eat. Usually they will eat a diet high in cartenoid. FYI .... Oh and why do we have eyebrows Mommy? So cute

[Jenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of things David Feldman has already answered in his impoderables, but still very interesting--partly because it was written before the age of google...not once is that search engine mentioned, while he recommends readers try askjeeves for more information. Kind of an information age time capsule in that respect.

[Ivy-Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot. It actually answered questions that I've wanted to know since I was a child. One being, how do they make seedless watermelons? I really enjoyed this book. It was fun. It used a lot of puns so it made it nicer to take in all the information. I actually liked it and I'm not too big on nonfiction books.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love trivia books, but this one has been sitting on the shelf too long, and some of the facts, such as the longest tennis match, is no longer correct. Not as engaging as the Uncle John Bathroom Reader series.

[Morgan Summerfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is filled with interesting tidbits of knowledge. I keep it handy for when the kids are having to wait for something. I give them three topic headings, they pick one and I read it to them. It never fails to capture their attention.

[Nate · Rating 2 out of 5]

This had interesting information, but I couldn't tell if this was written for adults or teens because of the simple structure and corny humor.

[Mary JL · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun, interesting compendium of trivia questions. I always enjoy those type of books. Lots of interesting information.

Recommended for the trivia fans out there.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book of useless information, but pretty funny to read and much of it was pretty interesting.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always been a succer fora good and interesting fact. Gives added info which is also interesting. A little too American but then who said the Yankies weren't weird?

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting book full of many different factoids. It was good to pick up and read a little bit at a time.

[Vickie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have a quirky question? Just read this book.

[Cindy Huskey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for all things trivia simply because I like knowing the why or the backstory of common inventions, beliefs, and everything in between.

[Angie Marker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun book full of good trivia and knowledge

[Toby Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun

[Robert Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book of trivia and facts. It is well organized and I learned something new at least every few pages. It was written in light hearted way that was fun to read.

[Chrysalis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I honestly loved this book, because now I know a bunch of facts that I don’t really need but wanted to know.