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1 of 1 members found this review helpful.Entertaining Read That Teaches You Stuff Too!
“Bears Can't Run Downhill is a great little book that tackles 201 claims made by many people (often while drunk) that they insist are facts. As the author points out usually while hitting the bar, table or whatever is in front of them with their fingers a few times to "prove" they are telling the truth. This book either confirms these facts to be true or proves they're just urban myths. It is written in a very fun dry British wit type humour entertaining style.
An amazon user wrote this on 2008-10-02.
The book is divided into chapters with various numerous claims explored under each category. Those chapters are Nature, Showbiz, Science, The Law, History, Sports and Geography. Some of the claims investigated include - 1 dog year equals 7 human years, crocodiles can run faster than racehorses, if you cut off a cockroaches head it can live for several weeks only dying due to starvation, rats can't vomit, guinea pigs can't sweat, if you dial 1 on the phone it will connect you to the queen, the Jackson's song Blame it on the Boogie was written by a completely different Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan now sells most of his records through Starbucks, Alfred Hitchcock didn't have a belly button, the last 5% of any beer can is saliva backwash, more calories are burned eating a stick of celery than are gained in the process, heroin used to be a trademark, traffic wardens cannot legally touch the vehicle they are ticketing so you can cover your number plate with a plastic bag, you're not allowed to smile for your passport photo, it is illegal to burn money, Coca Cola used to contain cocaine, none o f the Beach Boys could surf, George Foreman named all his children George and much more.
The best books teach you stuff in an entertaining way and this book does that, Other great books in this genre are How Slow Can you Waterski? by Simon Rogers, (also released under the title Can You Drill a Hole Through Your Head and Survive?) Dr Karl Kruszelnicki's Great Mythconceptions: The Science Behind the Myths, Q & A with Dr. K, Pigeon Poo, the Universe & Car Paint: And Other Awesome Science Moments and the rest of his books. Do Blue Bedsheets Bring Babies?: The Truth Behind Old Wives' Tales, Why Do Men Have Nipples? Hundreds of Questions You'd Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Martini, Shocking Science, So Gross (Over 100 Gross-Worthy Facts) and Everything You Need to Know About the World by Simon Eliot.
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4 of 4 members found this review helpful.
Great Fun!
“This book is full of those little facts that people claim (usually in drunken situations) which you're just not quite sure whether they're true or fake. Thankfully, Mr Anwood has put 201 of these 'pub facts' in his humorous book, which finally proves once and all the veracity (or otherwise) of such claims as swans being able to break a man's arm, and Marilyn Monroe having six toes. These are all dealt with in Mr Anwood's wry and tongue-in-cheek manner which make reading Bears Can't Run Downhill very enjoyable, especially if you dislike Robin Williams.”
An amazon user wrote this on 2007-01-31.
