Schott's Original Miscellany

By Ben Schott

Book Overview

Schott's Original Miscellany makes few claims to be exhaustive or even practical. It does, however, claim to be essential. It will afford you great wisdom in the morning, several conversational bons mots for the afternoon, and many an enlightened smile after dark.

Where else can you find, packed onto one page, the thirteen principles of witchcraft, the structure of military hierarchy, all of the clothing-care symbols, a list of the countries where you drive on the left, and a nursery rhyme about sneezing?

Where else but Schott's Original Miscellany will you stumble across the name of John Lennon's cat, the supplier of bagpipes to the Queen, and the brutal methods of murder encountered by Miss Marple?
An encyclopedia? A dictionary? An anthology? An almanac? An amphigouri? A treasury? A commonplace book? Well... yes. Schott's Original Miscellany is all these and, of course, more. A book like no other, Schott's Original Miscellany is entertaining, informative, unpredictable, and utterly addictive.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1582343497
• ISBN13: 9781582343495
• Release Date: August 2003
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
• Length: 158 Pages
• Weight: 0.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.8" x 7.6"

Customer Reviews

Schott's Miscellany 2008: An Almanac

Love this Almanac. Gifted all my children a copy (ages 17,23,25). Love topics like "Some 2007 Movie Taglines of Note". It is packed full of trival pop culture that makes for fun conversation at parties. Who knew all the "best airports for sleeping"? Something for everyone!

Schott's Miscellany 2008

You want to know somethin? Just about everything is in this book! A must for Bath, Bedroom or just general reading.

Grab Bag of Facts

If you are looking for a reference book in which you can quickly look up the population of Brazil or find a complete list of Pulitzer Prize winners, then "Schott's Original Miscellany" is not the volume you seek. On the other hand, if you're looking for a book you can pick up, open to a random page, and unearth some fascinating tidbits of trivia, then you're in the right place.Imbued with humor, sprinkled with quotations, and arranged in completely arbitrary order, this quaint compendium of facts makes for edifying, absorbing, and essential (according to Ben Schott) reading. Although the author has taken great pains to ensure the correctness of the facts, he admits that some of the trivia he presents has been disputed; he provides a list of variations and disputations. There is a self-referential page with statistical information about the book itself. There is also an index, although the reader will not be referring to it often, if at all. Originally published in England, this edition has been updated with American trivia, but it still contains such British facts as cricket fielding positions, British poets laureate, and the order of succession to the English throne.Move over bathroom readers... this book is far more entertaining. I recommend you buy a copy and keep it handy at all times. You never know when you'll need to find some "Q" words with no "u" or a list of Elizabeth Taylor's husbands!

A fun read to take along and read anywhere

What more can you ask for when you have a book that you can sit down browse through and read again and again? This unique collection of facts and trivia will keep you entralled for many hours. All kinds of odd little facts can be found in this book. Who knew that one book would have the knights of the round table, roman numerals, who sang at the superbowl, and so much more all in one place? I love to tuck this book into my book purse and pull out and read whenever I have to wait or have a bit of time to kill. The information is concise and this is the type of book you can pick up or put down at any time. I highly recommend this book for the person who likes odd little facts, or someone that likes unusual books. Its fun and compact, and you are likely to go to this book again and again.

A wonderful, beautiful book.

I had heard about Schott's Original Miscellany from friends in England - where the book has been a best-seller for ages, and is already become something of a British institution.I've just bought a copy of the American version - and I can see exactly why it is so popular.The book has everything. It can't have everything, I hear you say... Well, it does... All of the cloud types (with lovely little pictures); a wonderful list of phobias; the 33 degrees of Freemasonry; abbreviations used in personal ads; palmistry lines; the rules of fighting a duel; Greek, Roman, Norse, Hindu, Japanese and Egyptian Gods; every type of conversion you can conceive; famous Canadians; clothing-care symbols (even the ones you never understand); Morse code; cattle branding; untimely deaths of popstars; specifications of the US Flag.... the list goes on, and on, and on...And, if this was not enough, the book is absolutely beautiful to look at. It looks like the kind of book my grandpa used to have - old-world style, elegance, and design - but with content bang up to date. The typography (a hobby of mine) is perfect and makes the book a joy to read even if your not particularly interested in an entry.(I've just spotted a double-page about the American Presidents which has everything - everything - you might want to know... including whether they had beards, were left-handed, owned slaves, their star-sign, how much they got paid... it's that kind of book).I can't recommend this book too highly. Come Christmas, I think we can expect to see this book in many a stocking.