In the world of trivia books, this genre usually falls into two denominations: bathroom books or coffee table books. Let's consider bathroom books. As most of us don't have well-appointed bookshelves in our bathrooms, these tomes of trivia end up on the floor next to the toilet or tossed in a basket accompanied by crosswords and Sudoku. They're dog-eared, bent, warped, torn and unloved – disrespected, if you will. Their titles often foreshadow their fate relegated to the bathroom floor: Where else would you expect to find something titled The Book of General Ignorance? or Why Do Men Have Nipples?: Hundreds of Questions You'd Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Martini or Everything Is Going to Kill Everybody: The Terrifyingly Real Ways the World Wants You Dead. Bathroom books are not necessarily revered for the information they contain. They are laughed at and looked upon as something to be hidden away in, well, the bathroom.
Which brings us to coffee table books. These larger, hard-cover, full-colour topics of art, travel and sublime knowledge of a more sophisticated realm are proudly and strategically displayed for the hoped-for admiration of future visitors to one's abode. I've never seen a coffee table book on the topic of death trivia, for instance; though I suppose if I looked hard enough I could find one somewhere. Can you be judged as much on your bathroom books as on your coffee table books? Of course you can.
And perhaps that's why Everybody's Book of Knowledge creates its own genre right between the two. As the subtitle proudly proclaims, it's “a giant compendium of yesteryear's facts”, including Can Monkeys Enjoy the Cinema? What Was the Great Bottle Hoax? Do Cows Eat Buttercups? Oh, it most certainly belongs in the bathroom, doesn't it? But wait, it's large, it has a hard cover with colourful pull-out plates printed on glossy paper – it goes on the coffee table in the living room, right?
Wherever you decide to place it, Everybody's Book of Knowledge will delight those who pick it up, whether visiting the toilet or sipping tea at high noon. Reprinted from the original 1938 publishing compiled by Charles Ray and now amended nearly 80 years later, it will leave the reader feeling that indeed, knowledge is power, or at least a good conversation starter.
Open the book to any page and start skimming; fairly soon you will be reading. There is no organization to the topics represented or to the questions answered, so starting at the first page is no more useful than turning immediately to page 67. And it is refreshing to have none of these topics arranged or categorized, just jump in anywhere and go. If topic arrangement is necessary for you, just flip to the index at the back. Or read about the most ridiculous index entry on page 209. All of this knowledge is printed on beautifully high-quality paper with plenty of illustrations and photographs depicting striking historical events, people, thoughts, ideas, movements and illustrations from the natural world and the human stamp upon it.
Does snow fall in Palestine? Do snakes like music? Are volcanoes good or evil? Don't Google it – choose a comfortable seat in the room of your choice, sit down, and read Everybody's Book of Knowledge. You just might learn something.
