Results of search for [Philip Ardagh]

Philip Ardagh
Philip Ardagh's Absolutely Useless Lists: For Absolutely Every Day of the Year
Macmillan (517 pages) 9780230700505
Here's a pleasingly fat and chunky tome crammed full of facts and with a title that's absolutely correct - except for the 'useless' bit. Many readers get absorbed by just dipping into odds and ends of knowledge and gain far more by having something unexpected catch at their interest than by sticking to curriculum or other prescribed information. The book will also please those who like bite-sized snippets usually with enough to inform. There is an entry for every day and many entries have some vague connection with the specific day or date they are entered under, though a great many more have none. February 14th has a list of 'love you's' in 65 different languages, some of which must be phonetically spelt and a few probably sound rude said aloud, but October 31st has 'Twenty things to do when lost in the middle of a desert'. It is an endlessly openable book and an enterprising variation on the very popular fact-file style.