The Intellect's Bathroom Reader

Schott's Miscellany 2008 - Ben Schott
2007 - Bloomsbury

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Despite the Bathroom Reader-esque nature of its content, I love the presentation and earnest attempt at respectability of the Schott's Miscellany series. Always a joy to read. Below are some of my high points from the 2008 volume:


Most men lie about their height online while most women lie about their weight.


The world's worst sound is the sound of vomitting followed by microphone feedback and wailing babies.


New York's Metropolitan Museum spent over $99 million in acquisitions during FY2004-05, the most of any museum in the world.


Number one on the FBI's list of top art crimes in the world is the theft of Iraqi artifacts in 2003, deemed priceless. The next biggest crime is the theft of 12 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum paintings in the USA valued at $300 million.


The most visited national park is the Great Smoky Mountains, with more than twice the visitors of the Grand Canyon.


San Jose has the worst roads in the country.


Owning a dog has greater health benefits than owning a cat.


I grew up in a state that is 41% asian and now live in a state that is less than 1% asian. I grew up in a state that is the 19th most livable and now live in a state that is the 3rd most livable. I grew up in a state with the least amount of mobile homes per capita and now live in a state with the 6th most mobile homes per capita.


18% of the population believe that the cryptozoological allstars Bigfoot and Loch Ness Monster will someday be discovered.

Amazon description - In the modern age, where information is plentiful but selection and analysis elusive, Schott's Almanac presents a unique biography of the year: from Hillary Clinton's and Barack Obama's historic presidential runs to George Bush's continued infatuation with "the Google," from marriage and crime statistics to the incidence of shark bites worldwide, and from the Nobel Prize for Literature to the Bad Sex in Fiction award, Schott's Almanac distills information and opinions critically, giving readers an accurate biography of the year past.

Practical, entertaining, and utterly compulsive, Schott's Almanac eschews endless lists and tiny type to present an elegantly designed and utterly compulsive selection of the year's events.