The Book of Animal
Ignorance[548138] is the second title in a series of
books based on the intellectual British
panel game QI, written
by series-creator John Lloyd and
head-researcher John
Mitchinson. It is a trivia book, consisting largely of little-known facts
about various animals, alongside factual corrections to other
pieces of supposedly "well-known" trivia that, although widely
believed, are not always accurate. It is a sequel to
The Book of General
Ignorance.
Publication history
The Book of Animal Ignorance was first published
in the UK by
Faber and Faber on the
4 October,
2007,
almost exactly a year after
The Book of General Ignorance,
and clearly targeted towards the same Christmas market. An American
printing is likely to be forthcoming, since the success of
General Ignorance in the UK Christmas market 2006
reputedly prompted "a two-book, six-figure" sale of the US
publication rights, although the UK edition is already available
through
Amazon.com. From November, 2007,
it is distributed in Australia by
Allen & Unwin. A Dutch translation of
the book,
Het grote boek van foute feiten over dieren, was
published on
1 March 2009 by Uitgeverij Forum.
Structure
Differing from its forebear, the QI
Book of General
Ignorance's structure as a question-and-answer trivia
tome,
The Book of Animal Ignorance instead opts for an
encyclopaedic listing of 100 animals, providing information and
facts for each. This change in style may be dictated simply by the
content, but could also be as a direct result of criticism directed
at the former title by
Marcus
Berkmann, referring to its disappointing similarity in format
to a number of titles, and specifically
New Scientist's 2005 book
Does Anything Eat Wasps?
Touted on the cover as being "from the team that brought
'Ignorance' to millions", it promised to be a "bestiary for the
21st century," and contains almost-completely new "quite
interesting" facts on 100 different animals, described in Fry's
introduction as "the oats in the
QI muesli". This new
style and emphasis on new material clearly demonstrates the
evolution of the
QI brand, moving as it does away from the
look of the initial book, a far more obvious simple rehashing of
content from the TV series ('"General Ignorance" round), rather
than being a complementary companion volume in its own right, as is
Animal Ignorance.
Animal Ignorance again features forewords from both
regular
QI personalities,
Stephen Fry and
Alan
Davies. In contrast to the preceding books' "Four words,"
Davies here contributes a 'proper' foreword, labelled a
"Fore
paw", in keeping with the books subject
matter. It comprises two-page spreads on 100 diverse mammals,
reptiles, rodents, fish, birds and other beasts ranging from
aardvark to
worm (and
not strictly "Aardvark to
Zebra" as initially
reported). The book was designed, typeset also illustrated (with
"400 diagrams and cartoons") "by the brilliant
Ted Dewan".
Reviews, comments & criticism
QI: The Book of Animal Ignorance was one of 51 titles to
make
"The 2007 Exclusive Books List" (
formerly
the Publisher's Choice
list) of "the best books to
give or get" at Christmas, 2007.
References
- Books expected from Forum. Accessed on 6
January 2009.
- Lloyd, John & Mitchinson, John
The Book of Animal Ignorance (Faber&Faber, 2007),
from the inside-dustjacket blurb
- Animal Ignorance at the QI Shop. Accessed
February 5, 2008
- The QI Blog's Exclusive Review of The
Book of Animal Ignorance. Accessed February 6, 2008
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