The Book of General Ignorance
Cover of the first UK edition
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| Author |
John Lloyd John Mitchinson |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Mr. Bingo |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Trivia |
| Publisher | Faber and Faber |
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Publication date
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5 October 2006 |
| Media type | Hardback |
| Pages | 282 |
| ISBN | |
| Followed by | The Book of Animal Ignorance |
The Book of General Ignorance is the first in a series of books based on the final round in the intellectual British panel game QI, written by series-creator John Lloyd and head-researcher John Mitchinson, to help spread the QI philosophy of curiosity to the reading public. It is a trivia book, aiming to address and correct the comprehensive and humiliating catalogue of all the misconceptions, mistakes and misunderstandings in 'common knowledge'—it is therefore known not as a 'General Knowledge' book, but as 'General Ignorance'.
As well as correcting these "all-too-common" mistakes, the book(s) attempt to explain how the errors have been perpetuated, and why people believe incorrect 'facts' to be true.
First published by Faber and Faber in Britain on 19 October 2006, The Book of General Ignorance was published in the United States (on 7 August 2007 by Harmony Books), in France as Les autruches ne mettent pas la tête dans le sable: 200 bonnes raisons de renoncer à nos certitudes (on 3 October 2007 by ) and in the Netherlands as Het grote boek van foute feiten (on 1 November 2007 by Uitgeverij Forum). A surprise Christmas 2006 best-seller in the UK, the book became "Amazon's number one Global bestseller for Christmas 2006." By the end of January 2007 it had sold more than 300,000 copies, and later passed half a million. Unexpectedly high sales led to a sequel and an annual.
In the United States the book received good reviews from both Publishers Weekly, and the New York Times, who recommended it in their "Books Holiday Gift Guide". It has a different cover (left) to the UK edition, downplaying links with the QI TV series which had not been shown in North America. The book remained in the top 15 places on the New York Times Best Seller list for "Hardcover Advice" books from 9 December 2007 to 13 January 2008.
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Wikipedia