Take Me to Your Leader

by Ian Harrison

A colorful tribute to the sometimes offbeat world that humans have created offers a visual study of pop culture, trivia, and strange-but-true tales that cover everything from popular urban myths to the best and the worst of the worlds of sports, music, politics, and modern life.

Genres: Nonfiction, Trivia, Reference, Comedy

360 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2007

Reviews

[Graham Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty entertaining and informative book.

[Stef · Rating 2 out of 5]

Found this in a little free library and it looked fun. But the layout design bugged me, and I didn’t care about the vast majority of the info.

[Robbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review: Take Me To Your Leader
Wednesday, September 10th, 2008

Take Me To Your Leader

by Ian Harrison

* Hardcover: 360 pages
* Publisher: DK ADULT [October 1, 2007]
* ISBN-13: 978-0756632021

In the vein of random-useless-facts books, Take Me To Your Leader is different, as not only is it published for adults, but it also takes the premise of a handbook for aliens visiting Earth. No one cares about the frame story, though. More important are the 360 pages of facts and pictures, ranging from cool to disgusting to raunchy to what-the-f***. Most teens will be drawn to it like flies to kitchens on hot days.

The reason I picked this up is because it is a nominee for the ALA’s Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Readers and Di wanted my opinion on its appropriateness for teens. There are certainly pages that are too graphic for many young adults, but I think that for troubled youth, grittier areas or mature students it should be fine. I would strongly encourage the librarian to examine the book before purchase and see if it is right for their demographic, but I do not think that it is so graphic as to exclude it from the list.

4Q, 4P


More reviews @ rowijo.void-star.net

[Bonesy]

This is a really interesting and informative "random facts" book. I wouldn't say it's all that funny, but it's very enlightening! The only parts I didn't read were the ones about sports because I'm not a sports fan, but all the other stuff was very insightful. This is definitely a fun read for just about anyone; and hey, you never know when you'll need to know a random fact from this book in the future! However, I did find a lot of typos and there are moments where you might reread a sentence over and over and still not fully understand if it's a straight fact or a sarcastic comment from the author (and I'm usually quite good at detecting sarcasm through text, being the sarcasm queen that I am). I can't speak on the price because this was given to me as a Christmas present, but I highly recommend this for entertainment purposes. My favorite part by far features painted cats. I'm a total cat lady (and eccentric) and I never knew something like that could be done, and how badass! This book also has a lot of pictures, so even the most bored A.D.D.-ridden kid can stay entertained. This book actually helped me get through boredom while my laptop was in for repair.

[BCL Teen Librarians · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you ever wanted to know how to make a supersize marshmallow? Ever wondered about secret societies like the Illuminati, Cathars or Knights Templar? Do you want to learn about some of history's most famous scam artists? Are you simply interested in the wild, wooly, grotesque underbelly of the world?
Take Me To Your Leader offers all this weirdness, plus much, much more. Learn about washed-up child stars, how to whip up a gigantic sausage-egg abomination (heart attack guaranteed) and organized crime around the world. It's packed with enough bizarre trivia, odd / downright disgusting photos, urban legends and historical weirdness to make Ripley cry. Bonus points for the shiny, textured cover. This is a twisted, strange planet we populate - might as well revel!

--Ian

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this kind of book. It was full of trivia-My favorite kind of knowledge...the more trivial the better. Looking for something different to do in August? Try La Tomatina in Spain. Ever wonder what a web spun by a spider on caffeine looks like? It's not pretty...If you like knowing soccer horror stories, how famous people died, business etiquette in other countries and a bunch of odd jobs that do not sound like a good time (though Bek would like to be a Hot Walker!) then this is the book for you! PS. I would not pay over $5000 to have Charlie Chaplin painted on my cat's butt, How bout you?

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book of facts in the form of infographics. Includes interesting bits like this one:
"In 1988, a wayward ice skate slashed the carotid artery of ice hockey goaltender Clint Malarchuk. Two teammates vomited on the ice, seven spectators fainted, and two more had heart attacks. He was saved by the team's ex-Army medic, who pinched the artery with his fingers until paramedics arrived."

[Tracey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Xmas gift 2007

A colorful compendium of interesting facts & tales - some of which were a bit UL'ish. A UK publication that seemed geared to young adult readers, but was still entertaining enough.

[Talia · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you love reading general information books like "The Guinness Book of World Records" or "Top 10 of Everything" you'll love this book! This is a fun book of trivia, but its topics are completely random and make little sense how it's organized. Lots of typos and errors, too.

[carissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of trivia and weird facts, this is a good book for anyone who likes general knowledge. Best for adults and teens, as there is some nudity. There are a couple of typos and errors, but over-all an interesting and fun book.

[Kate Hastings · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really cool book with random facts about anything from superheroes to sausages. I think some of the topics are a little too edgy for teens and this will appeal to adults who enjoy nonfiction like Found.

[McArthur Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

Want to know about serial killers? What happened to your favorite child star? Facts about marshmallows? The rules of dating? This is an entertaining collection of all kinds of trivia, both useless and useful.

[SAM · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tooks gave this to me for Christmas and it's as entertaining as....um....I'm at a loss.

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutly wonderful.

Could be read by an alien (than can read English) and explain Earth and it's inhabitants.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Totally worth reading, although some of the stuff was somewhat eclectic

[Isabelrt · Rating 3 out of 5]

pointless, but funny

[Quinn Lavender · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was cool before "infographics" were a thing.

[Kelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

Weird is right, but not in a good way. And many of his "facts" have now been disproven. Plus, too much of his info just isn't interesting or is down right stupid!!

[Firat Tarman · Rating 3 out of 5]

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[Saanvi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun and interesting read.