Everyone has their own idea of what it means to have character. For Larry Cowsert, the concept was shaped by lessons he learned from his grandfather and others close to him. These lessons were so profoundly impactful that Cowsert decided to chronicle them here, in a captivating, easy-to-read book, so that others can learn from and use them to develop their own concepts of character. These aphorisms were funny, clever, provocative, and even harsh, but they captured the author’s attention an...

Take a seat and settle in—it's a gigantic treasury of trivia and humor for our twenty-fifth (is that porcelain?) anniversary!IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award Gold Winner in HumorForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Awards, Honorable Mention in Humor"Fully Loaded" is putting it mildly. This behemoth of a book is overflowing with incredible stories, surprising facts, weird news, little-known origins, forgotten history, fun wordplay, and ever...

For 25 years, there's always been a home in Uncle John's Bathroom Reader for those times in life you wish you could take back--"oops" moments, embarrassing accidents, spectacular failures. Because we never get tired of reading about unfortunate accidents (as long as they're happening to someone else), here is a whole book of "the best of the worst," the troubling and funny stories of things got terribly awry. Read all about:* The little math error that took down a spaceship.* A sexy stimul...

When Dave Barry is on the loose, no one is safe!What Dave Barry did for the men’s movement in his Complete Guide to Guys and for foreign relations when he did Japan he now does for . . . everything in America. The rapacious observer of Tupperware ladies and leisure concept salesmen sounds off on:Football—Football is more than just a game. It is a potential opportunity to see a live person lying on the ground with a bone sticking out of his leg, whi...

“What caused the American Revolution? This is indeed a rhetorical question that for many years historians have begun chapters with. As well they should. For the American Revolution is without a doubt the single most important historical event to occur in this nation except of course for Super Bowl III (Jets 16. Colts 7. This historian won $35).”So goes the skewed sensibility, the muddied mind, the bent pen of one of America's funniest writers, Dave Barry. This time his subject is U...

A compendium of outrageous, hilarious or just plain shocking trivia about everything from history and politics to arts, religion, technology and much more.For years, the Chicago Tribune's "10 Things You Might Not Know" column has been informing and entertaining readers on a diverse range of subjects. This volume collects the best of these columns, offering readers obscure, fascinating facts on universal topics that will appeal to everyone from sports fans ...

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist comes a celebration of the aging process. Not just Dave's, but that of the whole Baby Boom Generation--those millions of us who set a standard for whining self-absorption that will never be equaled, and who gave birth to such stunning accomplishments as Saturday Night Live!, the New Age movement, and call waiting. Here Dave pinpoints the glaring signs that you've passed the half-century mark:- You are suddenly unable to read anything writt...

The beloved bathroom reader series returns with this twenty-sixth edition that's flush with weird facts on a wide array of topics.The twenty-sixth annual edition of Uncle John's wildly successful series is all-new and jam-packed with the BRI's patented mix of fun and information. Open to any page and you may find an interesting origin (like the origin of the snow globe) or a piece of obscure history (like the true story of the man who tried to repeal the law of gra...

The twenty-seventh Bathroom Reader in the beloved, bizarre trivia series with more than fifteen million copies in print!At a whopping 544 pages, Uncle John's Canoramic Bathroom Reader is overflowing with everything that Bathroom Readers' Institute fans have come to expect from this bestselling trivia series: fascinating history, silly science, obscure origins . . . plus fads, blunders, wordplay, quotes, and a few surprises (such as some of the "creative" m...

The twenty-fourth edition in the bestselling bathroom-reading series is jam-packed with over 500 pages of absorbing trivia material.The information miners at the Bathroom Readers' Institute have unearthed a priceless collection of surprising, amazing, head-scratching, and hilarious articles. Divided by length for your sitting convenience, 24-Karat Gold is chock-full of little-known history, random origins, weird news, celebrity secrets, and urban legends. ...

The New York Times calls him “the funniest man in America,” and his legions of fans agree, laughing and snorting as they put his books on bestseller lists nationwide.In Boogers Are My Beat, Dave gives us the real scoop on:• The scientific search for the world’s funniest joke (you can bet it includes the word “weasel”)• RV camping in the Wal-Mart parking lot• Outwitting “smart” kitchen appliances and service contracts• Elections in Flori...

Henry Ford was perfectly tuned to his time. While other automakers were turning out expensive toys for rich men, he made sturdy, practical cars that everyone could afford and everyone could drive. His moving assembly line slashed the cost of production. His network of franchised dealers nurtured car ownership and promoted gas stations and better roads. But when his time passed him by, he couldn't adapt to the new world he himself had made. Here, in this short-form book, is his story.