Stumpers!: Answers to Hundreds of Questions that Stumped the Experts

by Fred Shapiro (Editor)

When people are faced with questions they can't answer, they often go to their local reference librarian.  But when reference librarians are stumped, where do they go?  The answer is Stumpers! , an Internet discussion group devoted to the questions even the professionals couldn't handle.

*  What is the value of the chemicals in the human body?
*  Why did Napoleon keep his hand in his jacket?
*  Do the people now alive outnumber the people who have ever lived?
*  Who was the last slave to serve in the White House?
*  What was the first couple on television allowed to sleep in the same bed?

The standard references are silent, but Stumpers! has answered them all, combining the traditional accuracy of reference librarians with the fast-moving wit of the Internet.  With hundreds of answers in categories ranging from Government to Sports, Folklore to Science, Stumpers! is the perfect gift for any trivia fan.

Genres: Reference, Trivia, Nonfiction

236 pages, Paperback

First published July 7, 1998

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took a while for me to get used to the format of multiple answers/responses and even when I did get more comfortable with it I wasn't a huge fan. The answers weren't always completely obvious, sometimes buried in other responses that were slightly-off topic and other times the answers were repeated - sometimes with a small amount of added information. I feel like the book could have been much better with a cleaner, more simplified format.

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard questions!