Peculiar Questions and Practical Answers
A Little Book of Whimsy and Wisdom from the Files of the New York Public Library
Published on 1. November 2019
Book
Hardback
168 pages
978-1-250-20362-5 (ISBN)
Description
Have you've ever wondered if you can keep an octopus in a private home? Do you spend your time thinking about how much Napoleon's brain weighed? If so, Peculiar Questions and Practical Answers is the book for you. The New York Public Library has been fielding questions like these ever since it was founded in 1895. Of course, some of the questions have left the librarians scratching their heads...
"In what occupations may one be barefooted?"
"What time does a bluebird sing?"
"What does it mean when you're being chased by an elephant?"
"What kind of apple did Eve eat?"
"How many neurotic people are there in the U.S.?"
In Peculiar Questions and Practical Answers, the staff of the NYPL has dug through the archives to find thoughtful and often witty answers to over one hundred of the oddest, funniest, and most whimsical questions the library has received since it began record-keeping over seventy-five years ago. One of The New Yorker's best-known and beloved illustrators, Barry Blitt, has created watercolors that bring many of the questions hilariously to life in a book that answers, among others, the question "Does anyone have a copyright on the Bible?"
"In what occupations may one be barefooted?"
"What time does a bluebird sing?"
"What does it mean when you're being chased by an elephant?"
"What kind of apple did Eve eat?"
"How many neurotic people are there in the U.S.?"
In Peculiar Questions and Practical Answers, the staff of the NYPL has dug through the archives to find thoughtful and often witty answers to over one hundred of the oddest, funniest, and most whimsical questions the library has received since it began record-keeping over seventy-five years ago. One of The New Yorker's best-known and beloved illustrators, Barry Blitt, has created watercolors that bring many of the questions hilariously to life in a book that answers, among others, the question "Does anyone have a copyright on the Bible?"
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
St Martin's Press
Illustrations
Includes four-color printed endpapers and twenty four-color illustrations throughout
Dimensions
Height: 196 mm
Width: 133 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
354 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-250-20362-5 (9781250203625)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
New York Public Library The
Peculiar Questions and Practical Answers
A Little Book of Whimsy and Wisdom from the Files of The New York Public Library
E-Book
04/2025
St. Martin's Griffin
€18.18
Available for download
Persons
The New York Public Library is a free provider of education and information for the people of New York and beyond. With 92 locations-including research and branch libraries-throughout the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, the Library offers free materials, computer access, classes, exhibitions, programming and more to everyone from toddlers to scholars. The New York Public Library serves more than 18 million patrons in NYC and millions more around the globe who use resources at www.nypl.org.