# Ever Read The Straight Dope Books? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 14, 2009, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873 "2009-02-14T22:10:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SharkB8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@SharkB8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SharkB8)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/1 "2009-02-14T22:10:18Z")
So…how many of ya’ll have actually read any or all of the Straight Dope hard copies? Anyone never read the book and just stumbled across the site randomly? Forgive my tremendous laziness (the books are scattered about the house and I’m snug in a blankie on the couch), but I’ve read the black one, and the yellow one…and some blue one by Ed Zotti. The name escapes me, but there was an illustration of someone demonstrating the Valsalva maneuver on part of the cover. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/2 "2009-02-14T22:13:20Z")
Ever read them? Why, I’ll have you know there’s at least one copy in every bathroom in this house! No, seriously. I think I’ve bought every single one of them a minimum of twice, what with replacing lost copies, gifts for friends, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/3 "2009-02-14T22:15:14Z")
My husband bought me one, before the web. I’ve never come across another book! (At least not in the stores.) Then we found the Straight Dope website, I found the Boards, and I became hopelessly addicted to the place. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/4 "2009-02-14T22:22:46Z")
Complete your Straight Dope library NOW! [https://securesite.chireader.com/cgi-bin/dopestore/buystuff.bat](https://securesite.chireader.com/cgi-bin/dopestore/buystuff.bat) Don’t forget to buy a Straight Dope t-shirt and coffee mug. What could be better than reading a Straight Dope book while wearing a SD tshirt, and sipping the beverage of your choice from a SD coffee mug? \ ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/5 "2009-02-14T22:38:21Z")
I own one and have read most of it, but I bought it after I was already a member of the SDMB and was quite familiar with Cecil at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/6 "2009-02-14T22:41:49Z")
My sister and I read whichever of the books had been published by the early 1980s. In fact I think she introduced me to them. She doesn’t post here, sadly. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/7 "2009-02-14T22:58:16Z")
I was around 12 or 13 years old and bought a paperback copy of the 1st Straight Dope book (in the early 80’s). I just started reading this site 3 or 4 years back, and decided to finally sign up last week. I will probably start a thread before too long, if I can think of an intelligent question to ask the Teeming Masses… ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/8 "2009-02-14T23:04:24Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > … > > I will probably start a thread before too long, if I can think of an intelligent question to ask the Teeming Masses… That’s very restrained of you. Most of us don’t wait until we have intelligent questions before starting threads. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/9 "2009-02-14T23:07:05Z")
I have a coffee mug and three of the books so far. I will never own the hideous T-shirt. They really need to try to come up with one without Slug’s ugly artwork. I understand the tradition and ‘charm’ of his illustrations, but they would sell more T-Shirts if they printed one without his work. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/10 "2009-02-14T23:11:45Z")
I had the books (at least the early ones) for years before I even heard of this website. And I’ve been a member of this site a long time. Ed ---
**Author:** ![SharkB8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@SharkB8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SharkB8)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/11 "2009-02-14T23:41:46Z")
Yeah, I’ve been a reference section nerd for about 15 years and stumbled across the message board about 3 years ago. I had no idea all of you lovelies were out there waiting to fight my ignorance. B.T.Dubs, the blue one by Ed Zotti that I couldn’t remember was [“Know-It-All.”](http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Know-It-All/Ed-Zotti/e/9780345362322) Guess I don’t! ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/12 "2009-02-14T23:50:19Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > I had the books (at least the early ones) for years before I even heard of this website. And I’ve been a member of this site a long time. > > Ed Me, too! I think I found the very first book in the ‘humor’ section of a bookstore long ago (cause I always buy each family member a funny and hopefully interesting book at Christmas, to read in the doldrums following the Big Holiday Extravaganza). Of course we own all of them now…I remember when the SD was a keyword on AOL, too. I must say, now, a lot of information in the books is really, really out of date. Things have changed so much in the last few years! ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/13 "2009-02-15T00:23:09Z")
It’s because of the books that I’m on this site - I first discovered Cecil in the 80’s when my sister, over the phone, read me Cecil’s 1986 answer to the life-and-death question, [What Did People Do Before Toilet Paper Was Invented?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/572/what-did-people-use-before-toilet-paper-was-invented) I immediately went out and bought the book, and was hooked.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![tygre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@tygre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tygre)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/14 "2009-02-15T00:35:19Z")
I got the first two in college (early 90’s) and a few years later, my ex-husband bought me another one. He was actually the one who said “hey, those books have a website, you should check it out” in 1999. I am now married to a Doper so we have duplicate copies of the books, and the next generation (my 11.5 year old) has read 3 of them. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/15 "2009-02-15T00:36:38Z")
Sure. I also used to be in a market that carried the column in the paper, which is how I knew about the books and later, the site. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/16 "2009-02-15T00:38:07Z")
Every time I go to a Dopefest, I fetch one along. I own them all. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/17 "2009-02-15T00:52:24Z")
I had no idea this place had gifts. I read the books long before I found out about the website (or, more accurately at the time, the AOL board). ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/18 "2009-02-15T01:10:45Z")
I have _Triumph, More of, Return of,_ and the original _Straight Dope_. ---
**Author:** ![SharkB8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@SharkB8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SharkB8)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/19 "2009-02-15T01:56:22Z")
Anyone heard if there’s a new book in the works? Also, if there is a new book, would it just contain answers to questions us Dopers have asked in GQ or that have already been new daily questions? Or will all of us have the joy of reading new questions with new answers (presuming the powers that be have set aside really great questions to be answered in a new book)? ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/20 "2009-02-15T02:10:59Z")
In the past, the books have been a compilation of the newspaper Q & As. At least one of the SD books has some posts from the old AOL SDMB. I would GUESS that any new book would be another compilation of Cecil’s columns. However, this isn’t an official answer. And I don’t know if there’s a new book in the works. Ummmm, you ARE reading Cecil’s weekly columns, right? The ones that get posted each week on the SD homepage? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873.md?page=2)