A third installment in the delightfully disgusting miscellany series that began with the national bestseller, Why You Shouldn't Eat Your Boogers and Other Useless or Gross Information About Your Body. In the New York Times (extended list) bestseller Why You Shouldn't Eat Your Boogers and Other Useless or Gross Information About Your Body, Francesca Gould uncovered everything you'd want to know-and a few things you'd rather you didn't-about the human body. In Why Fish Fart and Other Useless or Gross Information About the World, she scoured planet Earth for a rich assortment of odd and/or unsavory facts. In Why Dogs Eat Poop and Other Useless or Gross Information About the Animal Kingdom, Francesca Gould and David Haviland explore a subject positively rife with gross miscellany: the animal kingdom. Indeed, animals do the darnedest things and, in this vastly entertaining book, Gould and Haviland uncover a universe of strange, hilarious, and quite often disgusting animal habits, ailments, and practices, including: -Monkey-Faced Lamb disease; -farting snakes; -dino-chickens; -and a creature you've never heard of that eats with its eyes. Why Dogs Eat Poop is sure to delight any fan of the obscure and/ or grotesque.

"Originally published in 2010 by Piakus UK as Self-harming parrots and exploding toads; first American edition 2010, Tarcher/Penguin"--Title page verso.

The next book in the strange and fascinating series that began with the national bestseller Why You Shouldn't Eat Your Boogers & Other Useless or Gross Information About Your Body. The national bestseller Why You Shouldn't Eat Your Boogers & Other Useless or Gross Information About Your Body uncovered everything one might want to know (and a few things one might not) about the human body. The follow-up bestseller Why Fish Fart & Other Useless or Gross Information About the World contained an artful selection of odd and/or unsavory facts about the world. Why Dogs Eat Poop scoured the animal kingdom for gross and or off-color facts about animals. In this delightfully disgusting new book in the series, David Haviland plumbs the world of medicine to uncover the answers to such vitally important questions as: *What exactly is urine therapy? *Is it safe to fly with breast implants? *How did a nine-and-a-half-inch spatula find its way into a surgery patient's body? *Why do some boxers drink their own pee? *What is cyclic vomiting syndrome and how can one avoid it? Any fan of the absurd and/or obscure is sure to delight in this strange (and slightly stomach-turning) book.

Factoid Attack: Inherent sadistic streak in dentists confirmed! The electric chair was invented by a dentist, Dr. Alfred Southwick. Not surprising, dentists have been perfecting torture devices for centuries. Factoid Attack: Galaxy at risk! Intelligent life in short supply! In 1961, Astronomer Frank Drake estimated the number of probable intelligent civilizations inhabiting our galaxy. Using conservative numbers, that estimate came to 10,000. Unfortunately, we are not included in that total. Factoid Attack: Colorblind bulls hate all matadors equally! The color of a matador's cape, or muleta, is traditionally red, which is widely believed to irritate the bull. In reality, bulls are colorblind, so it is irrelevant what color cape a matador uses to antagonize them. Shot in the dark, but maybe it's the being stabbed with swords bit that pisses them off. Forget Fringe, Warehouse 13, and The X-Files. In this book, you'll find more weird and wacko truths than in all those combined. From golden poison dart frogs with enough venom to kill ten grown humans to cockroaches that can survive radiation 15 times stronger than what kills people, scary and strange just got scarier—and stranger!

Quacky facts for curious kids from the master of weird trivia, Uncle John! It’s wacky and fun! It’s illustrated and easy to read! It’s a whole new twist on learning! And it’s FOR (curious) KIDS ONLY--boys, girls, kids who like to read, kids who don’t…even grown up kids. Go ahead, be curious! Inside Uncle John’s Totally Quacked Bathroom Readeryou’ll find 288 pages packed with strange science, weird news, obscure history, odd sports, and the interesting origins of everyday things. Special to this edition: amazing animal quack-ups, history’s biggest quacks, ducky weather, fine feathered friends, quacky fashion, and things that are “Just Ducky” (which could mean really good or…soaking wet). And that’s not all! The newest fact-packed reader in the Uncle John’s FOR KIDS ONLY series features such topics as - Thorrablot! An Icelandic holiday with all the rotten shark you can eat! - Banned from Toy Stores: the Atomic Energy Lab science kit - Revenge of the Bees (ouch!) - Cooking with…Pooh! and other Crappy Book Titles - Gag-inducing Stuff Found in Fast Foods - The World’s Stupidest Apps - Moonbows, Snowballs, and Fire from the Sky! Plus…riddles and jokes, quotes and quizzes, experiments and recipes, brainteasers and much, much more! Uncle John’s Totally Quacked Bathroom Reader includes story lengths to fit any attention span (or accommodate any duration of Throne Time)--“short” (one page), “medium” (two pages), and “long” (three to five pages)--and they’re all fun, informative, and educational. Warning:Reading this book may make you smarter than your friends!

A unique historical and linguistic resource for those in anthropology, art, folklore, history, linguistics, literature, psychology, religion, sociology, and environmental studies, as well as performers and poets. Not simply relics of the past, proverbs are an oral tradition containing historical and anthropological knowledge missing from conventional sources, and as micro-histories, provide a valuable source for the reconstruction of the manners, characteristics, and worldviews of societies. While only a few hundred Kamba proverbs have ever appeared in print, thousands have circulated over time, from the monsoon exchange era of the Roman Empire through the advent of Islam, European imperialism and colonialism to independence. Today, a resurgence of interest in the form has been generated via social media, songs and vernacular radio programmes. This book provides the first, comprehensive collection of Kamba proverbs from Eastern Kenya in their original Kĩkamba language and in translation. Analysing 2,000 proverbs drawn from oral interviews, archival collections, museum artefacts and published sources, the author traces the origins of each and explores their meaning, interpretation and use. Covering a diverse range of subjects that ranges from plants, animals, birds and insects, to weather, land, the roles of men and women, cosmology, ritual and belief, healing, trade, politics and peacemaking, the book offers new insights into Kenya's rural world and the expansion of Kamba society, East African history, language and culture of vital significance for the social sciences. A valuable comparative work for societal change elsewhere in Africa and beyond, the book also suggests an innovative, alternative approach to the study of the African past.

Birds do it, bees do it, penguins do it, and orangutans do it. By having sex and giving birth to offspring, animals ensure that their species will survive into the next generation. And in this quest for survival, animals go to great lengths. Some animal mating techniques may strike you as strange or gross, but to the animals themselves, these practices are essential. Animals with the best strategies for choosing mates and making babies ensure that their species live on. Without animal sex, there would be no animal life.

A young man reexamines his childhood memories of strange visions and erratic behavior to answer disturbing questions that continue to haunt him and his new family in this psychological thriller named a Washington Post best book of 2007. Thirty-year-old George Davies can’t bring himself to hold his newborn son. After months of accepting his lame excuses and strange behavior, his wife has had enough. She demands that he see a therapist, and George, desperate to save his unraveling marriage and redeem himself as a father and husband, reluctantly agrees. As he delves into his childhood memories, he begins to recall things he hasn’t thought of in twenty years. Events, people, and strange situations come rushing back. The odd, rambling letters his father sent home before he died. The jovial mother who started dating too soon after his father’s death. A boy who appeared one night when George was lonely, then told him secrets he didn’t want to know. How no one believed this new friend was real and that he was responsible for the bad things that were happening. Terrified by all that he has forgotten, George struggles to remember what really happened in the months following his father’s death. Were his ominous visions and erratic behavior the product of a grief-stricken child’s overactive imagination? Or were his father’s colleagues, who blamed a darker, more malevolent force, right to look to the supernatural as a means to end George’s suffering? Twenty years later, George still does not know. But when a mysterious murder is revealed, remembering the past becomes the only way George can protect himself--and his young family. A psychological thriller in the tradition of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History--with shades of The Exorcist--A Good and Happy Child leaves you questioning the things you remember and frightened of the things you’ve forgotten. “Beautifully written and perfectly structured. . . . This novel is much more than The Omen for the latte generation, and Evans cleverly subverts expectations at every turn.” –Washington Post “[A] satisfying, suspenseful first novel. . . . Young George’s intriguing story unbalances the reader right up to the book’s deliciously chilling end.” —People “A scary, grown-up ghost story that combines Southern gothic with more than a twist of The Exorcist. . . . Combine[s] mind-bending storytelling with excellent prose.” —Portland Tribune “Think Rosemary’s Baby—plus . . . told in the kind of prose that mesmerizes, sweeping the reader along so fast that there’s no time to ask questions.” —Hartford Courant “[A] dazzling debut . . . part psychological thriller, part horror story.” —Chicago Tribune “Relat[es] his otherworldly suspense story with the cool, calm eye of a skeptic.” —Entertainment Weekly (A—)

Learn to communicate with your dog—using their language “Good reading for dog lovers and an immensely useful manual for dog owners.”—The Washington Post An Applied Animal Behaviorist and dog trainer with more than twenty years’ experience, Dr. Patricia McConnell reveals a revolutionary new perspective on our relationship with dogs—sharing insights on how “man’s best friend” might interpret our behavior, as well as essential advice on how to interact with our four-legged friends in ways that bring out the best in them. After all, humans and dogs are two entirely different species, each shaped by its individual evolutionary heritage. Quite simply, humans are primates and dogs are canids (as are wolves, coyotes, and foxes). Since we each speak a different native tongue, a lot gets lost in the translation. This marvelous guide demonstrates how even the slightest changes in our voices and in the ways we stand can help dogs understand what we want. Inside you will discover: • How you can get your dog to come when called by acting less like a primate and more like a dog • Why the advice to “get dominance” over your dog can cause problems • Why “rough and tumble primate play” can lead to trouble—and how to play with your dog in ways that are fun and keep him out of mischief • How dogs and humans share personality types—and why most dogs want to live with benevolent leaders rather than “alpha wanna-bes!” Fascinating, insightful, and compelling, The Other End of the Leash is a book that strives to help you connect with your dog in a completely new way—so as to enrich that most rewarding of relationships.

Get ready to squirm and squeal over the craziest facts you've ever heard! Have you ever wondered: How many pounds of insect parts the average person eats each year? Which specialty coffee is made from poop? How someone turned farting into a job? No? Then don’t open this book. The world around you is pretty wonderful, but also extremely weird. For very odd facts about the human body, look for Why You Shouldn't Eat Your Boogers: Gross but True Things You Don't Want to Know About Your Body.