Return of the Straight Dope

Rating:
Summary: The best of "The Straight Dope" books
Review: Cecil Adams is a hoot. Accept no substitutes! And this, in my opinion, is the best of his four books (as of this writing). In this book, he takes on the favorite subjects of his readers, including food, sex, popular culture, and science, with fascinating, well researched answers. Although he is sometimes condescending, and often hasty (read his answers to Marilyn Vos Savant's puzzles), you would be too, if you were the world's smartest human... AND on a deadline. Highly enjoyable.

Rating:
Summary: The best of "The Straight Dope" books
Review: Cecil Adams is a hoot. Accept no substitutes! And this, in my opinion, is the best of his four books (as of this writing). In this book, he takes on the favorite subjects of his readers, including food, sex, popular culture, and science, with fascinating, well researched answers. Although he is sometimes condescending, and often hasty (read his answers to Marilyn Vos Savant's puzzles), you would be too, if you were the world's smartest human... AND on a deadline. Highly enjoyable.

Rating:
Summary: Irreverent and hysterical, I love Cecil!
Review: Cecil Adams is a hoot. It's that simple. I'm the first to admit that his style may not be for everyone. If you don't enjoy the smart-alec humor of David Letterman, the irreverence of Saturday Night Live, and the take-no-prisoners approach of James Randi, than maybe the "Straight Dope" isn't for you.

For the uninitiated, The Straight Dope is a weekly newspaper column (appearing mostly in local "freebie" papers such as Madison's Isthmus) wherein Cecil (the smartest human alive) answers all manner of questions put to him by the "teeming millions." Do fish breathe? Do birds pee? Are there really 57 varieties of Heinz Ketchup? No question is too trivial for Cecil, and he applies a surprising degree of scholarship to all queries, mixing it all with a sharp-tongued wit and repartee with his correspondents that will leave you laughing out loud, guaranteed.

The books, numbering 5, collect the best of his columns into loosely organized chapters and include occasional updated information since the questions and answers were originally printed.

A few examples from 3rd book (Return of the Straight Dope, 1994), which is the one I happen to have from the library right now:

p. 338: Why do stars twinkle? Cecil supplies the correct answer, embedded as always, firmly within his razor sharp wit: "Ben, you amateur, stars don't 'twinkle.' They exhibit 'stellar scintillation.' The Pentagon isn't going to fund a damn twinkle study."

p. 63-64: A straight-down-the-pipe debunking of Uri Geller, as only Cecil can do. James Randi (whom Cecil sites as a source) has nothing on Adams. This is also a good example of Cecil's "dialog" with his readers. A reader wrote in to tell of his first hand encounter with Geller years before, and why Geller couldn't possibly have faked the spoon bending (or whatever) because this reader never took his eyes off the spoon, yada yada. Adam's reply shows his appropriately skeptical approach to such situations, where he stresses how many supposed "experts" were completely bamboozled by Geller's slight of hand and misdirection.

p. 349: The inertia of air, as seen in the helium balloon in a car experiment; p. 146 if you toss a ball in the air while inside the cabin of a flying airplane, does the total weight of the craft decrease by the amount of the ball's weight? (no, and he does a great job handling the physics involved).

The "Straight Dope" collections are a skeptical reader's delight, and totally entertaining to boot. I highly recommend them for casual reading, but don't be surprised if you learn something along the way.

By the way, there's apparently some debate about whether Cecil's a real person or not. I don't have an answer ... but it doesn't matter to me. The books are well written and right on target scientifically.

One more tidbit (this one from the straightdope.com web site), to a reader who asked what the deal is with Nostradamus, Cecil replied: "There are two schools of thought on Nostradamus: either (1) he had supernatural powers which enabled him to prophesy the future with uncanny accuracy, or (2) he did for ... what Stonehenge did for rocks. I incline to the latter view."

Cecil goes on to give a more detailed (and very accurate) response re: the whole Nostradamus thing, showing again his serious attempt to combat the epidemic of silly pseudoscience that so many of the "teeming millions" seem inclined to accept at face value.

And that really seems to be the bottom line for Cecil, and the best reason to read the column and the books.

Rating:
Summary: The Incomperable Unca Cecil Returns. Hurrah!!!
Review: From topics like vacuum cleaner accidents to the hard stuff like why car headlights don't automatically shut off and on with the car Cecil Adams proves once again that he is one of a kind. Not only does Cecil know everything but his style of displaying this awesome knowledge is a delight. This volume also includes Cecil vs. Marilyn Vos Savant as readers try to grasp the inner workings of Monty Hall's brain (appears he has one after all.) Definitely a keeper of a book as you will want to consult it over and over as one of the best and most readable of all reference books

Rating:
Summary: Another Fine Collection
Review: If you don't know who Cecil Adams is, its unlikely that you will find yourself purchasing this book. As the lucky initiated know, Adams has been writing his weekly column, "The Straight Dope" for alternative newpapers for nearly thirty years now. Adams is a good-natured arrogant know-it-all who uses reader questions both to show off his knowledge and flex his keen sense of humor. He is at the same time both hilareous and informative. He also tackles plenty of subjects that mainstream journalists will not touch. For example, in this book he discusses the little known practice of eating the human placenta. There is no one quite like Cecil. And for that we must be thankful.

Rating:
Summary: Another Fine Collection
Review: If you don't know who Cecil Adams is, its unlikely that you will find yourself purchasing this book. As the lucky initiated know, Adams has been writing his weekly column, "The Straight Dope" for alternative newpapers for nearly thirty years now. Adams is a good-natured arrogant know-it-all who uses reader questions both to show off his knowledge and flex his keen sense of humor. He is at the same time both hilareous and informative. He also tackles plenty of subjects that mainstream journalists will not touch. For example, in this book he discusses the little known practice of eating the human placenta. There is no one quite like Cecil. And for that we must be thankful.

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Summary: Straight Dope part II
Review: The second book of Cecil Adams' Straight Dope is here...
A good follow up for the fabulous first part and full of astounding data...
Get ready for hilarious laughter and information absorbtion...

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Summary: Trivia Addicts Beware - No One Knows More than Uncle Cece!
Review: The Straight Dope books are some of the best trivia books out there today - they cover everything from pop culture to religion questions with all sorts of weirdness in between.

Uncle Cece, as he is known to his friends, started a column at the Chicago Reader in 1973 and his been answering bizzare trivia questions ever since. Cecil has a very wacky and irrevrant sense of humor and is willing to answer just about anything the public can throw his way. His column now appears in more than 30 newspapers throughout the United States and Canada but his books are must haves!

Return Of The Straight Dope helps readers to solve the mysteries behind things like what was Barney Rubble's Job or how do those astronauts go the bathroom in space? Or Is there really a place called Podunk?

You get the idea. This book is a must have for trivia lovers everywhere!

Rating:
Summary: Hillarious!
Review: This title in question, Return of the Straight Dope by Cecil Adams, et al is one the most amusing books that I have read in a very long time. In this silly little book one is told how astronauts go to the bathrrom in space, Where Pondunk is and how in the world can they have interstate Highways in Hawii when the state is an plethora of islands far away from the mainland. Cecil Adams answers to this questions are quick witted, funny and ultimately quite informative. Highly Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: More great work from Cecil
Review: You have to love this guy - he gives you quality information and manages to do it in an entertaining way. He has found the perfect middle ground with the "Teaming Millions" who maintain endless dialogue over the weighty issues of life- He asserts his knowledged when challenged, ( even on the rare occasions when he gets it wrong)and injects a healthy dose of humour into the process to entertain us .

I have all these books - they are great - I just wish they were bigger