The Odd Index: The Ultimate Compendium of Bizarre and Unusual Facts

By Stephen J. Spignesi

Book Overview

Guaranteed to alarm and entertain, this madcap collection of weird lists contains thousands of the most peculiar, outrageous, mind-boggling, infuriating, enlightening, and just plain useless tidbits of trivia ever assembled. Subjects range from weird laws concerning women's feet to sexual phobias, from notable criminals' last meals to celebrity sightings of UFOs.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0452271037
• ISBN13: 9780452271036
• Release Date: August 1994
• Publisher: Plume Books
• Length: 399 Pages
• Weight: 1.03 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

an odd book

This is an excellent book that has been around for a while.It is similar in many ways to the "Book of Lists" by Irving Wallace and his son, David Wallechinksy. This book covers lists of unusual things, such as Unusual foods from around the world, A description of the most contreversial pictures in Madonna's book "sex", Acts of Violence in Bret Easton Ellis' book "American Psycho" (Now a movie). There is a listing of the foods that contain the most colesterol, a list of body parts that people pierce, (including fingernails), Methods of execution and torture throughout the ages, and some other lists which some may consider a bit vulgar.This book is suggested for mature readers only. But it is good.

Weird and Amazing

This is a great book We are told about the 88 times the word "Klingon" is used in the first 6 Star Trek films And several lists too pruient to be posted on the review

Odd, Shocking, and Interesting

Not for kids. But an interesting read and filled with amusing information. If you're a prude, you do not want to read this book. Otherwise, you'll enjoy it.

Wonderful!

I've owned this book for over two years and I still love to thumb through it. Its very funny. And it has a lot of interesting info. I'd also like to toss in that I will NOT take a plane ride unless its with me...its just something I love to read in planes.

A fascinating compendium of strange information.

This is one of those great fun books that you keep beside your favorite chair to pick up and browse through while the commercials are running on tv and you're waiting for 'Seinfeld' to resume. To quote from the introduction: " The Odd Index is the ultimate compilation of humorous, peculiar, outrageous, gross, mind-boggling, raunchy, infuriating, enlightening, disgusting, and just plain useless information ever assembled........... Just reading the table of contents will be enough to suck you in." unquote. It's all true. This is a delightful little book that will provide hours and hours of informative browsing. For instance, did you know that at one time Mickey Mouse was banned in the United States? Well, he was, back in 1932. There's a list of 51 banned books and one cartoon. Examples of banned books are The Bible in the Soviet Union as late as 1926 and The Merchant of Venice in the US in 1931. In Spain in 1720, the book Robinson Crusoe was denoted as a banned. These are only a few examples of the titles listed. The book contains various sorts of lists that include 40 euphemisms for the Devil, including Old Harry, The Arch Fiend, Scratch, and Queed. There's 195 names for the penis, including Mr. Happy; 75 aliases for female breasts such as The Upper Works, Hooters, and Begonias. For sexual intercourse we are exposed to no less than 228 different names that are used for this activity, including Boink Someone, Dance the Matrimonial Polka, and Parallel Park. Do you know the 9 types of angels? Well, it seems they are divided into 3 choirs and under each choir are the names of each category. There's a list of 22 things invented by Leonardo da Vinci hundred's of years before they were 'reinvented' to include the alarm clock, the flying machine, and the telescope. Under the 31 Peculiar Tourist attractions are listed a urinal once used by JFK, and Hobbiton, a life-size reproduction of Bilbo Baggins' hometown. There are 36 really long movies listed that have running times from 5 hrs-2 min to 85 hrs! The 8 levels of IQ evaluation are listed with a score of over 141 being in the Genius category. There is a listing of 20 odd names of animal groups to include a crash of rhino, a sloth of bears, and a knot of toads. I would recommend this book to all aspiring authors. It contains a multitude of information that could be useful. Information that would entertain and delight your readers if it is skillfully woven into your story.