Written by the creator of the TV panel game show QI, this is a collection of 1,227 QI Facts, where QI stands for Quite Interesting. I definitely found the facts Quite Interesting. Whether they’ll blow anybody’s socks off is another matter.
The facts aren’t sorted into any obvious order, which makes this a great book to dip into. If you open it at random, you’re almost certain to encounter something you didn’t know before. For example, Saudi women have the right to vote, but they’re not allowed to drive to the polling station. And ‘sciapodous’ means ‘having feet large enough to be used as umbrellas’.
One problem with random facts like the ones in 1,227 QI Facts is that there is no context for the facts. They aren’t preceded or followed by any potentially useful information. The source for each fact can be found by going to www.qi.com/1227 and entering the page number of the fact you’re interested in. There are also QI forums where you can post comments on the facts.
Another problem is that I don’t think all the facts were thoroughly checked. For example, on page 178 we’re told that ‘Misophonia is irrational rage and terror caused by the sound of people eating’. That sound is one of the things that can cause misophonia, which is actually an irrational dislike of certain soft or loud noises, reactions to which can include rage.
Over all, a quite interesting book and a good read for anybody who’s interested in trivia.
