Disinformation Book of Lists: Subversive Facts and Hidden Information in Rapid-Fire Format by Russ Kick

Disinformation Book of Lists: Subversive Facts and Hidden Information in Rapid-Fire Format Reviews

• 
  Jackie

  I was somewhat enjoying this book to start; about half the lists are genuinely interesting, while the others are pages of entries with no added context or just very repetitive.
  
  And then I got to the lists of "Cures Your Doctors Don't Want You To Know!!!!" that claim people with "mental illnesses" just aren't eating right and cite a chiropractor as a legitimate medical authority (unfairly discriminated against by those evil establishment doctors!!!). Anyone who doesn't do the research into such strongly-debunked pseudoscience is too credible to trust on anything else. I was going to check out his other books, but I prefer people who question the establishment without falling headfirst into sensationalist conspiracy theories.
• 
  Susan

  Who doesn't like a book of strange and somewhat subversive lists?
  * It's easy to read.
  * It doesn't contain a lot of extraneous text.
  * It highlights the most important information about a topic.
  * It can be read in quick bursts, like in the bathroom or during commercials.
  * It makes you more interesting at parties.
  * It contains information that other people might not know.
  * It draws its material from subject experts that the reader might not otherwise encounter.
  * It relies heavily on material that is somewhat prurient (sex, drugs, rock-and-roll, etc.)
  
  This isn't going to change your life, but it would make an excellent gift.
• 
  Michael

  This is a great collection of trivial, and not so trivial, information of a subversive nature. If you're already reading it, it probably won't change your mind about things but may inform you on all sorts of unusual topics, just like the rest of the Disinformation books. Considering the lengthy and well-written articles in other books in the series it's a bit shallow by comparison but within the genre of books-of-lists it's excellent.
  
  There is at least one error in the book. The listing for the Hello Kitty Tarot Deck states that Pochaco represents Death. That's wrong and completely inappropriate. My Melody is on the Death card and an adorable Death she is. This is especially appropriate after she starred in Onegai My Melody, which came out years after the artist created this deck. I have a copy of this self-published tarot deck so I know whereof I speak.
  
  PS: Pochaco is of course The Fool.
• 
  Lee

  This is a book of lists; there is no details behind anything, no extra information. Many of the chosen topics are very interesting and are great to share with friends.
  
  But, the book is short and your jolly's end quickly. Because of the lack of background material provided, it doesn't really help if you want to reference it for an essay or project.
  
  Ten years ago, this would have been a 4 star book, but you can sit down to Google and have all this and much more faster and in much greater depth. It's a good bathroom reading book, but that's about it.
  
• 
  J Connery

  Find some things out that you may have never thought about.
• 
  David

  Good if you like lists without citations and dubious endorsement of the likes of chiropractic for the treatment of ear infections.
• 
  Christopher Roth

  I understand the impulse to create an updated hipster version of the old Wallace/Wallechinsky format, but this falls a bit short. Clearly, the sex and drugs sections are the best parts and the author should have focused just on that. There's way too much about reasons to oppose the Iraq War (which I agree with, by the way), which seems far less urgent to read now than it did back when this book came out. That whole, huge section of the book is just kind of depressing now. It's also ironic that this book came out just a bit before the list format, via Buzzfeed etc., swallowed up the whole universe in its maw.
• 
  Terra Bosart

  Good source of lists. Learn about the porn section of the library of congress. Which US companies are allowed to make LSD, cocaine, and heroin? How many illegal substances occur naturally in your body? (My favorite is number two)
  Or how many legal substances cause false positives? How about CIA techniques for interrigation, or some CIA cryptonyms, or front company names?
  It goes on and on, with no bias, just information. Or Disinformation.
• 
  Jessica

  Who doesn't like lists? Better yet who doesn't like totally obscure, completely interesting list of topics you probably never considered. Anything by the disinfomation company is eye opening if nothing else.