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Title: Big Secrets by William Poundstone ISBN: 0-688-04830-7 Publisher: William Morrow Pub. Date: June, 1985 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.61 (18 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent, but only IF you know what it's about . . .
Comment: If you buy this book expecting to read about the U.S. Military's darkest secrets, the true nature of UFOs, or any other truly 'Big Secret', you'll be sorely disappointed. But if you enjoy reading about 'secret' recipes, the origins of urban legends, how to cheat in ______, or the radio frequencies of various government agencies, you'll enjoy this book again and again. If you do enjoy it, buy the two sequels. They're equal, if not superior.
Rating: 3
Summary: The Real "Big Secret"? You Probably Paid Too Much.
Comment: This book should have been subtitled "Uncensored Speculation About All Sorts of Stuff You Are Never Supposed to Know". I'm all for books that blow the whistle on supposedly secret things that should be public knowledge. I enjoy reading fun facts, esoteric trivia and "How do they do that?" kinds of books.
"Big Secrets" however, was pretty much a letdown. The section on foodstuffs was pure speculation. Poundstone had various samples of foods like KFC's coating, Coca-Cola and Dr. Pepper sent to labs for analysis and lists their "probable" ingredients. While this is interesting, it is not necessarily a revelation of a big secret. I can make wild guesses based on bad science, too. Maybe I'm just bitter because I didn't think of compiling my guesses into a book and selling it to rubes for ten bucks.
But I digress.
Poundstone provides a section titled "Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain", which gives explanations for various magic tricks, most of which have become common knowledge since Fox's Masked Magician blew the whistle a couple of years ago, but we have to give the author credit for doing it first. Most people don't know that there are magician's trade magazines (just as there are carpenter's and car enthusiast's trade magazines) that you can buy at any well-stocked bookstore. Within the pages of these magazines you will find much of the same information included here, as well as advertisements for catalogs that will sell you any of the same tricks and kits for building many of the setups. No big secret, really, for anyone who takes the time to find it.
In a chapter called "Alice, Let's Cheat", Poundstone tells us how to master an eyechart, the Rorschach Inkblot Test and a Lie Detector. Now, while I can imagine information on the lie detector test being useful if I am ever charged with murder, I cannot even speculate on why someone would want to go to an optometrist's office and walk out with the wrong precription because they chose to use the secret knowledge gained from this book. Nor do I understand why someone would pay a psychiatrist big bucks to give them misleading information on the inkblot test. If you are the type of person to lie on a test of this kind during an employment interview, then all I can say is "good luck to you."
So. These are the "Big Secrets" William Poundstone reveals to us. While I cannot confess to being even slightly edified or better off for having read this book, I will say that it makes the time pass on an airplane very quickly, so it is of some use. The writing is entertaining, if snide, and people who are not inclined to open their eyes and observe the world around them will be educated and amused.
Rating: 1
Summary: Under Par
Comment: I really didn't like these books. Some of the information is obviously wrong. As a magician I know that only 2 of the explanations of magic effects are correct(the "revelation" of the Statue of Liberty is completely incorrect).
These are interesting for speculation, but otherwise, completely worthless.
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Title: Biggest Secrets by William Poundstone ISBN: 068813792X Publisher: Quill Pub. Date: September, 1994 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
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Title: How Would You Move Mount Fuji? Microsoft's Cult of the Puzzle - How the World's Smartest Company Selects the Most Creative Thinkers by William Poundstone ISBN: 0316919160 Publisher: Little Brown & Company Pub. Date: May, 2003 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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Title: Bigger Secrets: More Than 125 Things They Prayed You'd Never Find Out by William Poundstone ISBN: 0395530083 Publisher: Mariner Books Pub. Date: December, 1989 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Labyrinths of Reason : Paradox, Puzzles, and the Frailty of Knowledge by William Poundstone ISBN: 0385242719 Publisher: Anchor Pub. Date: 01 December, 1989 List Price(USD): $19.00 |
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Title: The Ultimate: The Great Armchair Debates Settled Once and for All by William Poundstone ISBN: 0385242700 Publisher: Doubleday Pub. Date: October, 1991 List Price(USD): $19.00 |
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