Rating: 
Summary: All reading should be this much fun!
Review: This book is incredibly interesting and informative. All of the stories are humorous, logical, and very well written. If you are looking for the usual stuffy reference book, this is not the place to look. On the other hand, if you are looking for a book that will bring a smile to your face and leave you wanting even more when you have finished reading, then look no further than this book. Just read the "Mike the Headless Chicken" story that Amazon has scanned in above. If you like that story, then you will love this book.
Rating: 
Summary: useless but fun
Review: This book may be full of useless information but it was one of the best books i ever read. this was an easy book to read. not to wordy and not to easy. i enjoyed this book more each time i read a new chapter. you would be amazed on what type of information you will learn after reading this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Round Up the Usual Oddities: Useful for the Novice
Review: This book would make an excellent introduction to those new to the field, but aficionados in trivia, historical curiosities, and other such lore are unlikely to find much here that they haven't read about elsewhere. Although the material is amusing in itself, this book is marred by two things. First of all, there are numerous factual blunders of an elementary nature (e.g. identifying "Wasser" as a Greek word) and a book like this obviously should be factually impeccable.
Secondly, Silverman's prose style is somewhat annoying. It is not hard to believe that his original audience was high school students. His efforts at wit are clearly tailored for a juvenile audience and occasionally make one wince with irritation (worst of all is his habit of ending every single chapter with the refrain "Useless? Useful? I'll leave that for you to decide.")
Jejune prose and puerile cracks are certainly the banes of this genre, as anyone with broad experience in trivia knows. In this way, Silverman isn't much different. Probably the best exception to this rule is Cecil Adams (_The Straight Dope_, q.v.), one of the pioneers of modern trivia writing. He writes for a more sophisticated (if not necessarily mature) audience, and his jokes are actually funny.
Rating:
Summary: Very entertaining (and educational)!
Review: This is a great book for adults and kids. Some of the stories are hilarious, others outrageous, and most very educational. Ever wonder about the origin of kitty litter, why the inventor of Vaseline ate a spoonful every day, or how a college kid saved the NY Citicorp tower from falling over? Maybe not, but you'll be entertained by these humorous, but true stories of inventions, disasters and mishaps.
Rating:
Summary: Not Too Heavy, but an Enjoyable Diversion
Review: This is a pretty lightweight book, consisting of humorous and bizarre stories of weird history, reprinted from Silverman's "Useless Information" website. But Silverman freely admits that he's not trying to be dense or research-oriented, and just wants to provide some fun reading. In this regard, the book works well as an enjoyable and breezy diversion, and offers light reading for a day when you want to beat the blahs and feed your mind a little. Silverman isn't even trying very hard - the different sections of the book have trite titles like "Oops," "Hmmm," and "Unbelievable" (I wonder why he bothered), and in a rather annoying way he ends every single story with the line "Useless? Useful? I'll Leave That For You to Decide." But the stories are quite enjoyable and often very informative in an offbeat way. Favorites include the stories about the invention of Vaseline and kitty litter, the truly bizarre story of a lake disappearing into a collapsed salt mine in Louisiana, and of course Einstein's refrigerator. (In case you're wondering, Einstein really did invent a new type of refrigerator, but it wasn't practical for home use. His technology is now used in nuclear reactors.) The best story in the book is the one on the unappreciated genius Nikola Tesla, which has encouraged me to read more about this man's accomplishments. Plus, you just gotta love the bat bomb.Note: I recommend Silverman's "Useless Information" website, which contains the type of stories found in this book, and is another enjoyable diversion when you're at a boring job with online access.
Rating:
Summary: Not Too Heavy, but an Enjoyable Diversion
Review: This is a pretty lightweight book, consisting of humorous and bizarre stories of weird history, reprinted from Silverman's "Useless Information" website. But Silverman freely admits that he's not trying to be dense or research-oriented, and just wants to provide some fun reading. In this regard, the book works well as an enjoyable and breezy diversion, and offers light reading for a day when you want to beat the blahs and feed your mind a little. Silverman isn't even trying very hard - the different sections of the book have trite titles like "Oops," "Hmmm," and "Unbelievable" (I wonder why he bothered), and in a rather annoying way he ends every single story with the line "Useless? Useful? I'll Leave That For You to Decide." But the stories are quite enjoyable and often very informative in an offbeat way. Favorites include the stories about the invention of Vaseline and kitty litter, the truly bizarre story of a lake disappearing into a collapsed salt mine in Louisiana, and of course Einstein's refrigerator. (In case you're wondering, Einstein really did invent a new type of refrigerator, but it wasn't practical for home use. His technology is now used in nuclear reactors.) The best story in the book is the one on the unappreciated genius Nikola Tesla, which has encouraged me to read more about this man's accomplishments. Plus, you just gotta love the bat bomb. Note: I recommend Silverman's "Useless Information" website, which contains the type of stories found in this book, and is another enjoyable diversion when you're at a boring job with online access.
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