# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/21 "2009-02-15T02:13:19Z")
My ghod-there are _books?!?_ ---
**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, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/22 "2009-02-15T02:23:07Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Ummmm, you ARE reading Cecil’s weekly columns, right? The ones that get posted each week on the SD homepage? You betcha… I was just wondering if a book was going to come out, if it would just be comprised of all the posts from the SD page or if there would be new ones. Kinda like when the first books came out, unless you lived in Chicago, you probably didn’t have access to the questions and the answers and it was all new. Basically, I just want to have my cake and eat it too. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/23 "2009-02-15T03:11:10Z")
I own all of them, including the edition which contains one of my letters to the newspaper column. It was about 15 years ago. I had sent in a response to an ongoing topic, then forgot about it. I was shocked to find myself reading it in Cecil’s column a few weeks later. I also got a letter-to-the-editor into Newsweek a few years ago. Care to guess which one I’m more proud of? ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/24 "2009-02-15T04:18:08Z")
I got one as a gift once (after I joined the SDMB) and read through it a couple times. > [@What Exit?](#): > > 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. Seconded. Language hijack: > [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > Every time I go to a Dopefest, I fetch one along. I own them all. Just out of curiosity, can you think of any words you’ve used besides “fetch” or “bring” in that kind of phrase before? This usage has inspired me to do some impromptu Google research and I could use a more complete set of terms, if you don’t mind. Hostile Dialect, Hostile Dialect, Narcissist ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/25 "2009-02-15T04:26:07Z")
Back in the mid-90s I had never heard of Cecil Adams, never heard of The Straight Dope or The Chicago Reader. I had never even heard of the city of Chicago! Well, maybe not that last one. A grad school colleague brought one along on a research trip and I laughed my ass off. I bought a couple of the books and enjoyed them immensesly (I own them all now). I’m not sure how I came across the website exactly. It was too long ago for me to remember. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/26 "2009-02-15T05:13:42Z")
The books first came up in conversation in high school (early 80s). Coincidentally I think it was the SD Classic question that is on the homepage (calories in ejaculation). I read at least the first couple of books then. After high school I went to college in the DC area and I was able to read the column. Didn’t think of the Dope for years and then rediscovered it when it was on AOL. ---
**Author:** ![Alienhand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8edcca/32.png) [@Alienhand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alienhand)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/27 "2009-02-15T05:44:54Z")
Back when I was in high school there was a library next door and I worked across the street. I had about an hour to kill between practice and work so I went to the library everyday. The librarian brought in her copy of the original Straight Dope book because she thought it was right up my alley. I quickly bought the Return of the Straight Dope and More of the Straight Dope. Some time later she told me a new one had been released so I went looking and found an even newer one to buy! From the books I searched for a site, I found the boards but the first thread I clicked on was the Ed - Melin(I think that was her name) clusterfuck. I checked the site every couple of weeks but didn’t look at the boards until links for the LoTR threads started showing up elsewhere on the intarwebs. Sadly, when I moved from my first apt to the second I put them in a storage unit which flooded. They tried to call me but of course I had changed my cell phone number. It was three months before I went back to grab my stuff and found out they had chucked it all because of mold (but they were still happy to send me a bill for my storage of air). Some day I’ll get around to buying the books again. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/28 "2009-02-15T09:55:42Z")
I think we should have some sort of bumper sticker or something. I’ve always wondered if the customers at work were fellow dopers. A bumper sticker would be a good way. I read the columns on the homepage, but don’t own the books. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/29 "2009-02-15T11:35:26Z")
All of 'em - they’re how I found out about the column and then the SDMB. I love trivia books - - Straight Dope books - the Imponderables books - What are the 7 Wonders of the World (a book of famous lists in History - really good) - An Incomplete Education - So many others it is not funny…a couple of shelves, at least… ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/30 "2009-02-15T12:33:38Z")
I kinda wish we had buttons and stickers. That way I could tell if someone I ran into on campus was a Doper. That would be pretty incredible. Hostile Dialect, Hostile Dialect, Narcissist ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/31 "2009-02-15T13:04:40Z")
I read them all, starting as a wee lad back in the 80s. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/32 "2009-02-15T13:40:47Z")
I own them all, as well as the Know-It-All book. My mom got my stepdad the original book in mass-market paperback for Christmas about 18 years ago. He never got into it, so I claimed it a month or two after the holiday. The only book I’ve had to rebuy was the yellow one, More of the Straight Dope. My ex-wife dropped it into the toilet and tried to airdry it, but it became mildewed. (She then bitched about me having a book in the bathroom… talk about someone who didn’t get the concept of bathroom reading!) I’m another pop-reference book fan; they’re joined on my bookshelves by the Panati books, the Poundstone Secrets books, various Books of Lists, the RE/Search/V Search/Juno books, and multitudes of pop culture guides. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/33 "2009-02-15T14:34:00Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > All of 'em - they’re how I found out about the column and then the SDMB. I love trivia books - > > - Straight Dope books > - the Imponderables books > - What are the 7 Wonders of the World (a book of famous lists in History - really good) > - An Incomplete Education > - So many others it is not funny…a couple of shelves, at least… Uncle John’s Bathroom Readers must be mentioned here, too. I have over a dozen and hope to own the whole collection someday. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/34 "2009-02-16T00:07:49Z")
I have a treasured copy of _Return_ personally signed and dedicated to me by Ed, courtesy of **Dex**. Free, at that. Not sure I’ve otherwise ever seen a copy of any of the books here in the UK. Personally originally came across the Reader column while living in Chicago in the early Nineties. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/35 "2009-02-16T00:31:50Z")
I literally wore out the first one reading it so often. I found it at the grocery store when I was about 14 or so, maybe 1987. Read it over and over. Also read all of the subsequent books multiple times. [Here is the cover](http://www.amazon.com/Straight-Dope-Cecil-Adams/dp/0345422910/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234744322&sr=8-6), but this is a newer edition - I had the standard mass-market paperback. Joe ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/36 "2009-02-16T03:32:09Z")
Ever since I was a wee lad, I was always insatiably curious. My mom used to get me books like **Big Secrets** and **How Things Work**. Searching a bookstore one day I can across **The Straight Dope** ,(the first one) and purchased it. Abandoning the dry, factual tone of most similar books, Cecil had a unique style of his own. It seems like he toned it down a bit in later books, but that’s one for another thread… I have all the books, including Ed Zotti’s. Anyhow, when I first got internet access (late 90’s), I stumbled across this site while searching for some information. I bookmarked it, and checked out his weekly question (new ones on Tuesdays, IIRC). I was just into the columns for a long time, then started lurking on the forums a few years back before finally becoming a member. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/37 "2009-02-16T05:12:41Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > 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? > > \ What does the sizes available of the T-shirts say about SDMB demographics? That most Dopers are either M or XXL? Or that so many are L & XL that M & XXL are the only ones left? Ya couldn’t add an XXXL, could’ja?😃 Btw, I have the first three books. Found the first (in the large softbound edition) years ago at the public library, and would check it out several times. It was when getting it one time, I saw shelved near it the totally marvelous High Weirdness by Mail by Rev. Ivan Stang. ---
**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 16, 2009, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/38 "2009-02-16T13:05:17Z")
> [@Hostile\_Dialect](#): > > Just out of curiosity, can you think of any words you’ve used besides “fetch” or “bring” in that kind of phrase before? This usage has inspired me to do some impromptu Google research and I could use a more complete set of terms, if you don’t mind. > > Hostile Dialect, > Hostile Dialect, Narcissist Yeeeesss… I like “smite”, too… \ ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/39 "2009-02-17T07:20:48Z")
Read them? I not only have them, but I have an autographed copy. Signed in ink, no less! ---
**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 17, 2009, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873/40 "2009-02-17T08:36:32Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > What does the sizes available of the T-shirts say about SDMB demographics? > That most Dopers are either M or XXL? Or that so many are L & XL that M & XXL are the only ones left? > > Ya couldn’t add an XXXL, could’ja?😃 > > Btw, I have the first three books. Found the first (in the large softbound edition) years ago at the public library, and would check it out several times. It was when getting it one time, I saw shelved near it the totally marvelous High Weirdness by Mail by Rev. Ivan Stang. I, personally, cannot add any items. I don’t have any dealings with that part of the business. When I worked in a women’s clothing shop, I did (among other things) checking of shipments against orders and payments. I also talked to the owner/buyer. She said that generally, she could make an order of 1 16, 1 18, 2 20s, 2 22s, 1 24, or she could order one of each size. That’s how the manufacturers would allow orders. Sizes 26 and up would have to be ordered on another form, and they would cost more. The manufacturers, you see, had a cutting scheme that would allow them to cut out that selection of five sizes all at once on a piece of fabric, and so we had to take that selection as a set. If we wanted more of one size than was allotted, we would have to pay a higher price for each item of clothing, as we would be messing up their precious sets. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-read-the-straight-dope-books/485873.md?page=3)