This book, the Complete Idiot’s Guide to Submarines is probably the best guide to modern nuclear submarines that I have ever seen.
I wasn’t expecting much when I opened it up while idly browsing in a book store, but my jaw dropped when I saw the info in it.
Please help me understand this. You are ok with Dummies Guide and Klutz’s books, but Complete Idiot is pushing the joke title too far?
Did I get that correct?
Jim
Yes, that is my position, and I stand by it. Until something good comes on TV.
Ok, as I have never bought a Complete Idiot’s Guide, only Dummies and Klutz’s, who am I to complain.
Just realized, I have two Dummies books here at work. Crystal Reports 10 & SQL Server 2005. They were not as helpful as the ones I bought 10 years earlier. I probably won’t buy anymore in the future.
Jim
For those who get their self-esteem from their book titles I am going to publish Nothing for Absolute Geniuses (who are also handsome and witty).
I have at my house The Dummies book on Astronomy. It helped me out when I was taking Solar System astronomy.
I am considering picking up the Dummies book on learning Arabic, as the book I have is a bit above my current ability (saying hello, and introducing myself).
While trying to replace the old windows of the house many years ago, I got myself a book called Windows for Dummies. It had all kinds of unrelated stuff about computers. That’s how I learned I was a Complete Idiot.
Nah, just kidding. I never bought one of those books because I would feel like the butt of a joke any time someone saw me reading it. I think someone should capitalize on the notion of an “In-Depth Guide to [subject] for Otherwise Brilliant People Who Happen Not to Have Learned About [subject] Until They Purchased This Book” series.
This takes sensitivity and wanting to look smart to the next level. If you think the title of a book is trying to insult you, you probably should grow a pair. I know people who actually turn books around backwards on their shelves so people won’t know they read it. Its the same people who panic about taking the Oprah sticker off their copy of Anna Karennnanannanaina. I have one of these books. Its between my cliffs notes for organic chemistry and my copy of the Da Vinci Code. YEAH I SAID IT. And if someone thinks I’m stupid for it I will tell them about how I read Crime and Punishment for the 5th time in backwards Latin.
Right – and in the process it also plays off of the frustration many adequately intelligent persons feel, when attempting to familiarize themselves with a new topic and facing instructions/guides that don’t help them: *"I have three university degrees, but this &^%$# thing is making me feel like a fool!"
I’ve probably checked a few out of the library (solar energy for the home, recently) but the only one I’ve actually purchased is Art for Dummies. I wanted to better understand where the general public is coming from when they view and discuss art and figured a book geared towards “outsiders” would explain their perspective.
It’s very gossipy about the artists’ personal lives, so there was plenty of stuff I didn’t know. But the plate for Van Gogh’s Starry Night was backwards. That drove me nuts.
Some of you guys really seem to be taking this whole thing personally. Just because some of us don’t like to be called an idiot or a dummy by a book doesn’t mean we think *you *guys are idiots or dummies for buying it. (Well, some might, but I don’t.) It’s just not my thing, that’s all. That’s not my bag, baby!
Bwah! The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Surgical Procedures…
I do like the Dummies books–I started with DOS for Dummies, way back in 198-something.
Ah, that’s on my shelf, right next to Do-It-Yourself Dentistry for Dummies. 
Seriously, though, I have no problems buying and reading Dummies and Idiots books. They’re a good overview of the subject matter and they’re not too detailed–you can use these books to become familiar with a topic without being overwhelmed by it. They also usually have reputable references (web pages, other books) you can go to for more information if you want to look further. What’s not to like?
I guess I can kinda see someone maybe being put off by the title back when those books were new (wouldn’t have bothered me). But those books are so ubiquitous and successful that I don’t see how someone could be put off now.
I have 5 of the Dummies series here at work - all software related. They are very useful tools for finding out how to do something I haven’t done before or don’t do often. And even the worse one is far better than the Microsoft help menu.
Haven’t seen too many of the Idiot’s series but if I needed information and found it in their book, I’d buy it.
I had The Complete Idiot’s Guide to DOS back when I got my first computer, right after the dinosaurs all moved to Jupiter. I found it extremely helpful for what I wanted to learn, which was how do I download Jungle Jane on this thing?
These, however, irritate me in a vague way. I feel that spiritual exploration should require a more scholarly approach. And liquor. Lots of it.
And after previewing a couple of random pages on that last one, it looks to me like nothing more than a list of helpful websites about the subject at hand. Most of them from the first page of responses from googling “asatru”. Pitiful.
a) David Pogue’s Macs For Dummies series was both immensely useful (even though I knew those Macs inside and out) and hilarious, so
2) get the hell over it. This reminds me of the women who gets insulted by the “do you have a beard” question on the generic forms they fill out when they get hired.
I own several. They are proudly displayed on my shelf next to The Drooling Retard’s Complete Guide to Tying Shoes; Only a Fat, Stupid Loser Like You Would Read This; and The Secret.
I would really like to see a series called “Reasonably intelligent but interested in this new unfamiliar subject”…but it isn’t really catchy.
“The Incredibly Smart and Sexy Person’s Guide To…”
“Everything You Always Wanted to Know About <something> But Were Afraid to Ask” (oldie but goodie.)