# Would You Buy a Book Like This? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 10, 2009, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-book-like-this/480709 "2009-01-10T20:23:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-book-like-this/480709/1 "2009-01-10T20:23:31Z")
NOTE TO MODS: Though this is about a (hypothetical) book, this is more of an opinion poll, so I put it in IMHO. Would you spend, say, $8.99 for this book: a book of puzzles (a wide variety: crosswords, logic, word games, math, trivia, etc.) with clues leading to the location of a buried “treasure.” The clues lead to longitude & latitude points, so you could use a GPS to find the treasure. The treasure consists of a piece of plastic with a code number embedded in it; e-mail the code number to the publisher, you’re the winner. The prize is minimal, say $20,000. Would you buy this book? Do such books exist (perhaps in a different form from what I described)? Have they ever existed? ---
**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:** [January 10, 2009, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-book-like-this/480709/2 "2009-01-10T20:28:58Z")
Nope. What are the chances that the treasure is somewhere near where I live? How much money would I have to spend to GET to that treasure? How much time would I have to spend to get to the area, and then search out that plastic piece? Even if I liked to travel, which I don’t, I’d have to hire a cat sitter, take time off my other pursuits (such as work), and then find this piece of plastic. Also, I have mobility issues…are you going to make this thing easily accessible to someone who can’t climb a tree, can’t walk very far, can’t dig in the ground, etc? I would and do buy books of puzzles, preferably those with several types of puzzles in them. No prize is needed. And yeah, “treasure map” books with clues in them have, indeed, been offered. I didn’t buy them. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-book-like-this/480709/3 "2009-01-10T20:32:27Z")
I wouldn’t buy one. They exist and have had fabulous prizes way beyond $20,000. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-book-like-this/480709/4 "2009-01-10T20:40:46Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > They exist and have had fabulous prizes way beyond $20,000. This isn’t GD, so no obligation to provide a cite. But I’m curious about this, do you have a title that you know off-hand. I’m curious enough to at least look at a book like that. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-book-like-this/480709/5 "2009-01-10T20:47:38Z")
Plus, what if you buy the book after the treasure is found? Will every bookstore immediately pull it from the shelves when the treasure is found? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-book-like-this/480709/6 "2009-01-10T20:51:03Z")
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**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-book-like-this/480709/7 "2009-01-10T21:14:32Z")
There was a book like this that came out when I was a kid. I’m not sure of the time frame, but it was probably late 70s/early 80s. It was a lavishly illustrated book that supposedly hid clues that led to a secret treasure. I can’t remember the name. I do remember it got some press, and there was much speculation about whether or not anyone would figure out where the treasure was. I can’t recall if it was ever found or not. I’m sure someone will be along in the next 5 minutes to tell us what the name of the book was. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-book-like-this/480709/8 "2009-01-10T21:18:23Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > There was a book like this that came out when I was a kid. I’m not sure of the time frame, but it was probably late 70s/early 80s. It was a lavishly illustrated book that supposedly hid clues that led to a secret treasure. > > I can’t remember the name. I do remember it got some press, and there was much speculation about whether or not anyone would figure out where the treasure was. I can’t recall if it was ever found or not. > > I’m sure someone will be along in the next 5 minutes to tell us what the name of the book was. Treasure See my first link. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-book-like-this/480709/9 "2009-01-10T21:28:40Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > Treasure > > See my first link. A copycat book, the original was [Masqurade](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masquerade_(book)) ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-book-like-this/480709/10 "2009-01-10T21:36:02Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > A copycat book, the original was [Masqurade](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masquerade_(book)) Yup that was it. I’m a little disappointed it took so long for the teeming masses to come up with this title. C’mon, I said 5 minutes! You took almost 15! ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-book-like-this/480709/11 "2009-01-10T22:04:44Z")
There was even a movie, [_Million Dollar Mystery_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093539/), which was a remake of \*It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World \*and ended with $1,000,000 hidden somewhere for all the fans of the movie to try to find. From IMDB: > [@](#): > > Glad Bags and DeLaurentiis Entertainment co-sponsored a real-life million-dollar “treasure hunt” to coincide with this film’s release. At the end of the movie, the cash is still missing, and moviegoers were invited to find the location of the hidden stash, using clues provided in the film (the sponsors also emphasized that the money wasn’t PHYSICALLY hidden anywhere, lest anyone injure themselves or damage property while searching for the loot; the audience just had to GUESS where the money was hidden). Ticket buyers were even given game cards shaped like American currency–with a big photo of Dino De Laurentiis where the President should be. In the end, it was a big disaster for the studio. The film was one of the major flops of the 1980s, barely grossing a million dollars at the box office, which the studio wound up forking over to the contest winner, a woman in Bakersfield, California. (Incidentally, the money was hidden in the bridge of the Statue of Liberty’s nose). ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-book-like-this/480709/12 "2009-01-10T22:11:18Z")
At this point, I’d say most publishers would say that the gimmick has run its course. The first time helped sell the book, and probably made some money. But after a few times, the interest wasn’t there. Prior to be using it as a selling point for a book, advertisers did the same thing. There was a whole series of ads for [Canadian Club Whiskey](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/175/in-those-old-canadian-club-ads-did-anyone-find-the-hidden-cases-of-whiskey) where they hid cases of the stuff around the world and gave hints on how to find them. The movie **How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying** has this sort of giveaway as a plot point, so it was clear that it had been done before then. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-book-like-this/480709/13 "2009-01-10T22:21:34Z")
There was a computer game back in the 80s that did something like this too. > **[Pimania](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pimania)** > > Pimania is a text-and-graphics adventure game written by Mel Croucher and released by Automata UK in 1982 for the BBC Micro, ZX Spectrum, Dragon 32, and Sinclair ZX81. It was the first real-life video game treasure hunt to be released. It was inspired by the 1979 Kit Williams book Masquerade. Automata gave a prize of a golden sundial worth £6,000 (equivalent to £22,500 in 2021) for the first person to solve the various cryptic clues to its location that were hidden within Pimania. > The player n... ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-book-like-this/480709/14 "2009-01-10T23:54:09Z")
David Blaine did this in his book _Mysterious Stranger_. The Treasure was $100,000 I believe. Here is an [account](http://www.thefoolsparadise.com/db/index.htm) of the book, the ensuing search, and the winner ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-book-like-this/480709/15 "2009-01-11T00:39:04Z")
The general name for this sort of book is an armchair treasure hunt. Here’s the longest list of them I’ve been able to find in a quick search: [http://www.quest4treasure.co.uk/public\_html/www/armchairth.htm](http://www.quest4treasure.co.uk/public_html/www/armchairth.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-book-like-this/480709/16 "2009-01-11T01:07:30Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > [Treasure in Search of the Golden Horse CED Web Page](http://www.cedmagic.com/featured/treasure/treasure.html) > > [http://www.hmc.edu/newsandevents/TreasureHunters.html](http://www.hmc.edu/newsandevents/TreasureHunters.html) > > [http://www.treasurepursuit.com/](http://www.treasurepursuit.com/) Thanks! I’d never even heard about that before. Very cool!