The Straight Dope Tells All
Cecil Adams has been giving the straight dope to thousands of bizarre and inane questions, in his books and weekly newspaper column, for 25 years now. His most recent opus,The Straight Dope Tells All, is as addictively fascinating, sarcastic, and informative as his previous efforts. If you're aStraight Dopeenthusiast from way back, you know how joyous an occasion a newStraight Dopeis. And if you're aStraight Dopevirgin, it's time to be initiated into Adams's scholarly yet snide approach to the trivia questions that torment his readership into seeking his help. Where else are questions like "Does 'kimosabe' actually mean 'chicken guano?'" and "Must the pet rabbit chew one's t-shirt to keep from dying of overgrown teeth?" actually see the light of newsprint and receive an answer. Just perusing the index is good entertainment. A quick glance at "S" shows "Sabbath, why Christians celebrate on Sunday rather than Saturday," sex: anal, and "gay bowel syndrome," "shivering, following urination," "singing nun, fate of," "smiley face, inventor of," "smoking, whether more WWII veterans were killed by that than combat," and "sound of tree, if falls in woods." How one could resist a line-up like that, is a question even Cecil would be unable to resolve satisfactorily.--Stephanie Gold