Perigee Bookmarks

And the answers are…

Posted by Marian Lizzi

With no further ado, here are the correct answers to yesterday’s completist literary-trivia questions, courtesy of Dan Smith’s Think You Know It All?  You’re welcome, I’m sorry, good work, check out the book, and thanks for playing.

The six novels of Jane Austen?

1. Sense and Sensibility
2. Pride and Prejudice
3. Mansfield Park
4. Emma
5. Persuasion
6. Northanger Abbey

The 37 plays of Shakespeare?

1. Henry IV (Part I)
2. Henry IV (Part II)
3. Henry V
4. Henry VI (Part I)
5. Henry VI (Part II)
6. Henry VI (Part III)
7. Henry VIII
8. King John
9. Richard II
10. Richard III
11. Antony and Cleopatra                                    
12. Coriolanus
13. Cymbeline
14. Hamlet
15. Julius Caesar
16. King Lear
17. Macbeth
18. Othello
19. Romeo and Juliet
20. Timon of Athens
21. Titus Andronicus
22. Troilus and Cressida
23. A Midsummer Night’s Dream
24. All’s Well That Ends Well
25. As You Like It
26. The Comedy of Errors
27. Love’s Labour’s Lost
28. Measure for Measure
29. The Merchant of Venice
30. The Merry Wives of Windsor
31. Much Ado About Nothing
32. Pericles, Prince of Tyre
33. The Taming of the Shrew
34. The Tempest
35. The Two Gentlemen of Verona
36. The Winter’s Tale
37. Twelfth Night or What You Will

The five Golden Ticket winners in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?

1. Charlie Bucket
2. Mike Teavee
3. Augustus Gloop
4. Veruca Salt
5. Violet Beauregarde

The nine novels of the Bronte sisters?

1. Agnes Grey (Anne)
2. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Anne)
3. The Green Dwarf  (Charlotte)
4. Tales of Angria (Charlotte)
5. Jane Eyre (Charlotte)
6. Shirley (Charlotte)
7. Villette (Charlotte)
8. The Professor (Charlotte)
9. Wuthering Heights (Emily)

The ten novels of Ernest Hemingway?

1. The Torrents of Spring
2. The Sun Also Rises
3. A Farewell to Arms
4. To Have and Have Not
5. For Whom the Bell Tolls
6. Across the River and into the Trees
7. The Old Man and the Sea
8. Islands in the Stream
9. The Garden of Eden
10. Under Kilimanjaro/True at First Light

The nine members of the Fellowship of the Ring?

1. Gimli
2. Legolas
3. Frodo Baggins
4. Meriadoc Brandybuck (Merry)
5. Peregrin Took (Pippin)
6. Samwise Gamgee (Sam)
7. Aragorn (Strider)
8. Boromir
9. Gandalf the Grey

The four houses of the Hogwarts School? And their mascots?

1. Gryffindor / Lion
2. Hufflepuff / Badger
3. Ravenclaw / Eagle
4. Slytherin / Serpent

The seven books in the Chronicles of Narnia series?

1. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
2. Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia
3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
4. The Silver Chair
5. The Horse and His Boy
6. The Magician’s Nephew
7. The Last Battle

The 39 books of the Old Testament?

1. Genesis
2. Exodus
3. Leviticus
4. Numbers
5. Deuteronomy
6. Joshua
7. Judges
8. Ruth
9. I Samuel
10. II Samuel
11. I Kings
12. II Kings
13. I Chronicles
14. II Chronicles
15. Ezra
16. Nehemiah
17. Esther
18. Job
19. Psalms
20. Proverbs
21. Ecclesiastes
22. Song of Solomon
23. Isaiah
24. Jeremiah
25. Lamentations
26. Ezekiel
27. Daniel
28. Hosea
29. Joel
30. Amos
31. Obadiah
32. Jonah
33. Micah
34. Nahum
35. Habakkuk
36. Zephaniah
37. Haggai
38. Zechariah
39. Malachi

Think You Know It All?

Posted by Marian Lizzi

On the heels of Perigee’s wildly successful Useless Information series (1 million copies in print and counting) comes Dan Smith’s Think You Know It All? – a quiz book for trivia completists. After all, many of us can name a few #1 hits of the Beatles, or a handful of island countries in the Caribbean. But how many of us can name them all?

Yes, a little quiz is about to present itself.

Book lovers, can you name…

1. The six novels of Jane Austen?
2. The 37 plays of Shakespeare? 
3. The five Golden Ticket winners in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?
4. The nine novels of the Bronte sisters?
5. The ten novels of Ernest Hemingway?
6. The nine members of the Fellowship of the Ring?
7. The four houses of the Hogwarts School? And their mascots?
8. The seven books in the Chronicles of Narnia series?
9. The 39 books of the Old Testament?

 We’ll post the answers tomorrow. In the meantime, no Googling.

 

Think You Know It All?

Posted by Christina Lundy

Anyone who has ever come across a know-it-all knows that one of life’s greatest pleasures is seeing them stumped.

Enter Think You Know It All?, the upcoming quiz book by Dan Smith. 

This trivia collection will leave even the brightest among us scratching their heads, with questions that demand its topics—covering geography, history, pop culture, and more, with everything from classic composers to American Idol—are known inside and out.  Most people can name the first person to walk on the moon, but who can name the other eleven who took that small step?  How about the runners-up in U.S. Presidential elections, the members of The Monkees, and the Greek alphabet?

Perfect for trivia lovers and aspiring buffs alike, anyone who completes the book deserves a pat on the back and a spot on your quiz team.

 Here’s a practice question: 

In the Chinese Zodiac system, each year is designated an animal under a twelve-year rotating cycle.  Can you name the twelve animals?

(The answer appears below.) 

 

Think You Know It All? will be available February 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answer:

Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Boar

'Tis the Season (for Holiday Gift Guides)

Posted by Christina Lundy

My family and friends know by now to expect books from me at Christmas.  I try to fight the urge to give books to everyone—they aren’t all big readers, after all—but I can’t help myself.  I always end up finding a book that seems written just for them.  I love books.  Is it too much to ask for everyone else to love them, too?  Here are a few Perigee books that I think would make especially good gifts this year.

 

For at-home chefs: The Lost Art of Real Cooking – Put some love and elbow grease back into your meals, and leave the store-bought mixes and pre-fab food behind.  Beautifully packaged and not at all intimidating, even for beginners.

 

 

 

For memoir lovers: Faery Tale – The story of Signe Pike, a 20-something editor who searches for something to believe in after the unexpected death of her father.  Belief in fairies not required.

 

 

 

 

For creative types: Wreck This Box - Boxed set of Keri Smith favorites Wreck This Journal, This Is Not a Book, and Mess.  Guaranteed to make you think outside the box (sorry).

 

 

 

 

 

For kids: Make These Toys – Perfect for when they inevitably get tired of all their new toys.

 

 

 

 

For trivia nerds and bathroom readers: Anything from The Book of Useless Information series – Filled with seemingly endless facts that I can never recall on trivia night.

 

 

 

 

 

For the person who hates their job: The Art of Non-Conformity – Inspiration to figure out what you love and to do it at all costs, from an entrepreneur who has never had a traditional job.

 

 

 

 

Check out the Penguin Gift Guide for more ideas.

 

Tawdry Knickers

Posted by author Alex Novak

 

At very long last, today is the on-sale date for my first book, Tawdry Knickers and Other Unfortunate Ways to Be Remembered. I’m a sucker for unusual word origins, and I vividly remember the day, several years ago, when I discovered that the deadly battle blast bits known as shrapnel are not only named for a British officer (Henry Shrapnel) but that he actually invented them. My curiosity piqued, I wondered how many more of these regrettable eponyms might exist—how many more proper names with shady histories might have slipped into our general usage? To my delight, notorious namesakes began popping up everywhere.

 

There was a boycott (Charles), a lynch or two (Charles and William), someone tawdry (St. Audrey), and a pair of old knickers (the real Harmen and the fictional Diedrich Knickerbocker). What was most fun about the project was that there were several tidbits of trivia I had rolling around in my head that really exploded when I started exploring the details. For example, I knew that Reverend Sylvester Graham invented the graham cracker and founded the American Vegetarian Society, but I found it hilarious that he also believed that unhealthy diets awoke excessive sexual desire (leading to disease) and once posited that ham and sausage “increase the concupiscent excitability and sensibility of the genital organs.”

 

Yet while some of my subjects were born notorious, others had notoriety thrust upon them. One of these unwitting victims was Sir Astley Paston Cooper, a preeminent 19^th century British surgeon and anatomist who named the ligaments supporting the breasts (Cooper’s ligaments). Unfortunately, the stretching of these ligaments (and the resulting sagging of the bosom) ultimately became known as “Cooper’s Droop.”

 

It seemed incumbent upon me to bring together this motley group of ninety etymological misfits into one volume, and so Tawdry Knickers was born to shine new light on the hilarious highs and lamentable lows of these strange life stories hidden in our language.

 

Tawdry Knickers and Other Unfortunate Ways to Be Remembered is available today.

Superstitious Minds

Posted by Jeanette Shaw

 

It’s Thursday – definitely one of the best days of the week. The weekend is almost here, it’s a great TV night (my DVR bounces around between Community, Grey’s Anatomy, The Vampire Diaries, and 30 Rock), and apparently it’s the best day to make important decisions, because you’re more likely to make the right one. (Unless you’re in Germany, in which case Thursday is thought to be the day when all activities are doomed to failure.) 

 

That useful tidbit comes from Black Cats & Four-Leaf Clovers: The Origins of Old Wives’ Tales and Superstitions in Our Everyday Lives. Now, I don’t normally think of myself as an overly superstitious person, but there are definitely some habits I find hard to break, like avoiding walking under a ladder or knocking on wood. Maybe it’s because of that one time I stated proudly that I’d never broken a bone, didn’t tap any nearby trees, and ended up with an ankle fracture a week later. Coincidence? Well, better safe than sorry.

 

Just in case you’re planning your week, here are a few more recommendations:

 

• Don’t collect nuts on a Sunday – you may find yourself in the company of the devil! (It is the luckiest day to get married though.)
• If you’re female, try to avoid having a medical procedure on a Tuesday, which is apparently a high accident risk day.
• Write important letters or ask favors on Wednesday, since the response is more likely to be favorable.

 Now if you’ll excuse me, I have an important decision to make: what to eat for lunch.

 

 

 

 

 

Black Cats & Four-Leaf Clovers

 

Amazing Discoveries

Posted by author Harry Oliver

 

Stuff. It’s everywhere. We wear it, buy it, desire it, and use it everyday. But where does it come from and, more to the point, who invented it? Such questions drove me to research Bubble Gum and Hula Hoops, The Origins Of Objects In Our Everyday Lives. Doing so, I learned that necessity is often the mother of invention, but not always. So many of the things we take for granted were the result of accidents, chance encounters, the need for money, and pot luck. Who would have thought that the Frisbee has direct links to the world of pie making, or that Monopoly was originally intended as anti-capitalist propaganda? Or that, when he wasn’t defining the laws of gravity, Sir Isaac Newton took the time to devise the first ever kitty door (or cat flap, as it is called in Britain, where I write).

 

I learned an awful lot writing this book, and set myself straight on a number of points: Napoleon didn’t invent the baguette, after all, but he was responsible for the development of canned food. The Chocolate Chip cookie was a happy accident, and the jury is still out on whether the French Fry hails from France or Belgium. When it came to the Sandwich, I picked up some new American English along the way – heroes, poagies, and po’boys were all strangers to my ears, as was the story of how M&Ms relate to the Spanish Civil War.

 

It was hard to pinpoint who once thought urine and insects would work as toothpaste, yet reassuring to discover it was long before Mr. Colgate’s time. Amusing to discover how Louis XV of France devised the elevator in order to conduct affairs with his numerous mistresses, and elevating to find out once and for all if Thomas Crapper really did invent the flushing toilet…

 

 

Bubble Gum and Hula Hoops is available now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Black Cats & Four-Leaf Clovers will be published in September.

 

There Oughta Be a Word…

Posted by Marian Lizzi

 

As I turned on my computer this morning, I had the following thought: There really should be a word for the heady stew of emotions stirred up by the fact that I have to write yet another blog post this week.

 

But I digress.

 

If you love words like I do (and let’s be honest, we all know that you do), you’ll delight in the obscure, antiquated, and oddly specific elements of our weird language featured in Ammon Shea’s Reading the OED. Yes, the book has been out for a while now. But will gems like the following ever get old? (Please say no, or else this post will be dead in the water.)

 

 

Apricity:  The warmth of the sun in winter.

 

Cimicine:  Smelling like bugs.

 

Jocoserious:  Half serious and half in jest. (Also, how I live my entire life.)

 

Lant: To add urine to ale, in order to make it stronger. (Possibly big in Germany.)

 

Psithurism:  The whispering of leaves moved by the wind.

 

Tacenda:  Things not to be mentioned. Says Ammon: “The incident with the broccoli. Your Aunt Tilly’s first husband. Where that scar really came from.”

 

Yepsen: The amount that can be held in two cupped hands.

 

 

What are your favorite language finds? Comment, email or tweet me. It will happify me greatly!

 

And stay tuned for Ammon’s next engaging tribute to a big book no one reads….wait for it…The Phone Book.

 

 

 

Reading the OED is on sale now.

 

Eureka! The Surprising Stories Behind the Ideas that Shaped the World

Posted by author Marlene Wagman-Geller

 One of the most pregnant-with-promise words in the English language is one borrowed from the Greek--“Eureka!” which translates to “I have found it!” The etymology derives from the story of the ancient mathematician, Archimedes, who, upon stepping into his bathtub, noticed the water level rise, thereby discovering the principle of displacement. In his elation he ran naked through the streets of Syracuse shouting “Eureka!” Since then, the expression has come to refer to aha moments, when one’s intellectual light-bulb (oftentimes long elusive) miraculously flashes.

After completing my first book, Once Again to Zelda: The Stories Behind Literature’s Most Intriguing Dedications, I found myself with the post-publishing blues: I had finished my manuscript and was adrift without a further project to engage my time and soul.  I deemed it a miracle I had thought of one idea for a book, and I could not imagine coming up with another. Yet one day, while driving to my position as a high school English teacher in National City, (located near the San Diego Tijuana border), I had my own Eureka! Moment.  It was born from a frequent question I had received about Zelda, “How did you come up with your idea?” This led to my realization: Everything originates with a creative spark; therefore, I could write a second book exploring the stories behind the Eureka moments that had left an indelible mark on society. Unlike Archimedes I did not run naked through the streets of National City, (I have enough on my life’s resume without adding arrest for indecent exposure,) shouting “I’ve found it!” What I did do was start my investigation into the significant light-bulb moments in history.

I had already been familiar with some of these catalysts, such as the origins of two childhood classics; A.A. Milne was inspired by the stuffed animal of his son, Christopher  Robin, and Winnie-the Pooh was born; Ruth Handler was inspired by her daughter, Barbara, playing with paper-doll cut-outs, and Barbie was created. My next step was to unearth the stories behind the everyday icons. As with most people who have internet access, I am familiar with Amazon.com, (I have a credit card bill attesting to this), and for my book I researched how Jeff Bezos thought of the online giant, thus changing the way American does business. Every day after work I attempt to decompress with a Starbucks, which led to my investigation of how Howard Schultz came up with the idea of giving an Italian name to coffee. However, not all the entries were of childhood classics or entrepreneurial strokes of genius.

Other intriguing slap-to-the-forehead gestures came from a colorful array of people from various countries. One of the world’s most beloved hymns, “Amazing Grace,” was penned by a British former slave-trader. We owe Madame Tussaud’s to the French woman who learned her trade making death masks from those guillotined during the Reign of Terror. The clothing staple of blue jeans was first manufactured by the Bavarian Levi Strauss. The Noble Prize was instituted by the Swedish inventor of dynamite who did not want his legacy to be “The Merchant of Death.”  As an antidote to the horrors of World War II, a Belgium water-polo Olympian advertised the first Club Mediterranee (Club Med). Kwanzaa was willed into being by an American in response to the Watts Riots.   

Eureka moments, like lightening, can strike anywhere: Jeopardy was born on an airplane, Penguin Books originated in a train station, Curious George was drawn as a result of a visit to a zoo, and the Seussian world was hatched aboard a ship.  

On the Fields Medal for outstanding achievements in mathematics, there is a portrait of Archimedes. The inscription encircling the head of the mathematician is a quote attributed to him, in Latin: Transire suum pectus mundoque potin (“Rise above oneself and grasp the world”). Archimedes’ quotation embodies the very essence of the Eureka moment.

Hopefully, by reading about significant Eureka moments, you’ll find one of your own.

 

Eureka! goes on sale July 6. 

Black Sheep and Lame Ducks

Posted by author Albert Jack

 

Many times, during the course of a single day, all of us will use what is known as an idiom. Idioms are words and phrases that those of us with a native English tongue take for granted as we have grown up to recognize their meaning—despite the words being used in a way having absolutely nothing at all to do with the context of a conversation we are having.

 

For example, if I explained I am writing this “off the cuff,” you would immediately recognize it as an unprepared piece being written in one take, spontaneously and then left as it is (which, by the way, it is). But why do I call that “off the cuff” when it has nothing to do with my cuffs or being either on or off them? Or if I suggested everything in this post was absolutely true, I can emphasize that statement by insisting every word in here is “straight from the horse’s mouth.” Again, we all know that means it has come directly from the source of information and is therefore reliable. But I haven’t got a horse. I have never spoken to one, and unless I can find one that wins more often, even when I hedge my bets, then I might have nothing to do with any of the beasts again.

 

Those little phrases appear in conversation all over the English speaking world, every minute of the day, and we take them for granted. Have you ever heard someone say they were “dressed up to the nines” and then wondered what on earth they were talking about? No, probably not because you already know what that means, but any person learning our beautiful language may overhear this and think we are all mad. Have you ever wondered where those phrases come from in the first place and why we use them? I did, when I was sitting in a pub with a friend, who was feeling a little groggy and under the weather, as he had been out painting the town red the previous evening. I helpfully suggested  a hair of the dog was in order and the bartender, who was an English student from Columbia, and a very good one at that, thought we were crazy. She told us dogs weren’t allowed in the pub. How we all laughed.

 

It was winter, and cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey, so cold in fact, I believe it was snowing in my kitchen. So we sat by the fire, hair of dog in hand, and started wondering where those sayings originate and why they are so natural to use. We stayed in that pub for a few hours and the waiter fetched us up a square meal, but before we all reached the end of our ropes I decided to leave for home. It was raining cats and dogs outside so I bit the bullet and made my way through the cold and started researching these little phrases. Within minutes I had discovered that many of them do have traceable origins and some even emerge from a particular event in history. Some are unbelievable but, by and large, many make immediate sense. Some have more than one suggested origin so, in those cases, I have chosen the source that had the best supporting evidence. Therefore, I can assure the reader, there is only one cock and bull story among them.

 

The expressions that litter the English language have long fascinated me. And I’m not alone in this. While researching my first book, Red Herrings and White Elephants, I began to think it might well prove popular, judging by the conversations I was having at the time. These conversations not only focused on idioms but, like most, were peppered with the strange expressions we all use every day without thinking. Once I had tuned in to them, they stuck out like a series of sore thumbs.

I soon became notorious for my constant interruptions, wondering where a particular expression comes from and why we use it. This had the unfortunate side effect of my not being invited to many dinner parties because if I was there the conversation tended to veer, often for hours, between why there should be “more than one way to skin a cat” and, if I was feeling brave enough, who was “looking like a dog’s dinner.”

One of the first questions people always ask me is: “How do you go about researching the origins of all of those expressions?” The research took a fair bit of time, it’s true, but it turned out to be the most rewarding part of the process. The hardest part was to think of a phrase in the first place. There are probably more than two thousand idioms we all use on a regular basis and yet when you sit down and try to think up a few dozen, it is almost impossible. I have discovered that the best way is to consciously listen out for them. However, don’t try this at home. I haven’t had a conversation, read a book, or watched TV without a notebook in hand for over two years now. And now I hope you enjoy the fruits of this labor as much as I have.

 

Black Sheep and Lame Ducks

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pop Goes the Weasel