Best Selling Books by John Lloyd

On March 6, 1945, after hearing rumors that his son, John, was writing a book about their stormy past, Frank Lloyd Wright wrote a note asking him, "What is this talk of a book? Of all that I don''t need and dread is more exploitation. Can''t you drop it?" John assured his father that he would like the book and sent him a copy on its publication--March 29, 1946. A few days later, Frank Lloyd Wright returned it with numerous comments penciled in the margin, responding to what his son had written, and with a request that a new, second copy be sent to him. John complied with the request but first transcribed not only all his father''s comments into the clean copy in black pencil but also his own answers to them in red pencil. He also transcribed all these comments into a third copy, again using colors to differentiate his comments from those of his father. This third copy is the basis for this new edition of John Lloyd Wright''s book. The main text of this volume is a reprint of the 1946 edition along with marginal notes, comments, and corrections made by John Lloyd Wright and his father, as well as explanatory notes and an introduction by Narciso G. Menocal. In the postscript, Elizabeth Wright Ingraham, John Lloyd Wright''s daughter, remembering her grandfather and father, says that in this edition "what was a son''s book becomes a father and son book."

Welcome to QI: The Book of the Dead, a biographical dictionary with a twist - one where only the most interesting people made it in!QI have got together six dozen of the happiest, saddest, maddest and most successful men and women from history. Celebrate their wisdom, learn from their mistakes and marvel at their bad taste in clothes. Hans Christian Anderson was terrified of naked women, Florence Nightingale spent her last fifty years in bed, Sigmund Freud smoked twenty cigars a day, Catherine de Medici applied a daily face mask made of pigeon dung, Rembrandt van Rijn died penniless and Madame Mao banned cicadas, rustling noises and pianos. Carefully collected and ordered by the QI team into themed chapters with thought-provoking titles such as ''There''s Nothing Like a Bad Start in Life'', ''Man Cannot Live by Bread Alone''. Each chapter reveals hilarious insights into the true nature of the most interesting people who ever lived, including Isaac Newton, Genghis Khan, Sigmund Freud, Florence Nightingale and Karl Marx. From the bestselling authors of The Book of General Ignorance and 1,277 Facts to Knock Your Socks Off, comes a fun and inspirational biographical dictionary, with motivational stories about the famous and the obscure.

QI: The Pocket Book of General Ignorance is an illuminating collection of fun facts, perfect for general knowledge, trivia and pub quiz enthusiasts. This number-one bestseller is a comprehensive catalogue of all the interesting misconceptions, mistakes and misunderstandings in ''common knowledge'' that will make you wonder why anyone bothers going to school. Now available in this handy pocket-sized edition, carry it everywhere to impress your friends, frustrate your enemies and win every argument. Henry VIII had six wives. WRONG! Everest is the highest mountain in the world. WRONG! Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. WRONG! QI: The Pocket Book of General Ignorance is the essential set text for everyone who''s proud to admit that they don''t know everything, and an ideal sack of interesting facts with which to beat people who think they do. Perfect for trivia, pub quiz and general knowledge enthusiasts, this is a number-one bestseller from the authors of The Book of General Ignorance and 1,277 Facts To Blow Your Socks Off, packed with weird, wonderful and really quite interesting facts.

A liff is a familiar object or experience that English has no word for. Afterliff, its long-awaited sequel, corrects this disgraceful oversight by recycling the names found on signposts. This brilliant successor to Douglas Adams'' and John Lloyd''s 1983 classic The Meaning of Liff features over 900 essential new definitions, including: Anglesey n. Hypothetical object at which a lazy eye is looking. Badlesmeare n. One who dishonestly ticks the ''I have read and agree to the Terms and Conditions'' box. Caterham n. An overwhelming desire to use the Pope''s hat as an oven glove. Clavering ptcpl v. Pretending to text when alone and feeling vulnerable in public. Eworthy adj. Of a person: worth emailing but not worth phoning or meeting. Kanumbra n. The sense that someone is standing behind you. Ljubljana interj. What people say to the dentist on the way out. Loughborough n. The false gusto with which children eat vegetables in adverts. Sorrento n. The thing that goes round and round as a YouTube video loads. Uralla n. A towel used as a bathmat. In 1983, John Lloyd and Douglas Adams authored The Meaning of Liff, a bestselling humour classic which went on to sell hundreds of thousands of copies. John Lloyd''s other books include 1,411 QI Facts To Knock You Sideways and The Book of General Ignorance.

Just when you thought it was safe to start showing off again, the bestselling authors of The Book of General Ignorance and 1,277 QI Facts To Blow Your Socks Off are back. With a foreword by Stephen Fry, this parcel of unimaginable information is here to solve a few common misconceptions, mistakes and misunderstandings. Octopuses have six legs, oranges aren''t orange, bats aren''t blind, napoleon wasn''t short, vikings didn''t wear horned helmets, there is no such thing as a fish. QI: The Second Book of General Ignorance is the essential set text for everyone who''s proud to admit that they don''t know everything, and an ideal stick with which to beat people who think they do. John Lloyd and John Mitchinson are the bestselling authors of QI: The Book of General Ignorance and 1,277 QI Facts To Blow Your Socks Off. Here they present a wonderful collection of astonishingly interesting facts, perfect for pub quiz lovers, trivia buffs and general knowledge experts alike.

An indispensable compendium of popular misconceptions, misunderstandings and common mistakes culled from the hit BBC show, QI. From the bestselling authors of The Book of General Ignorance comes a noticeably stouter edition, with 26% extra facts and figures perfect for trivia, pub quiz and general knowledge enthusiasts. The QI team sets out again to show you that a lot of what you think you know is wrong. If, like Alan Davies, you still think the Henry VIII had six wives, the earth has only one moon, that George Washington was the first president of the USA, that Bangkok is the capital of Thailand, that the largest living thing is a blue whale, that Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, that whisky and bagpipes come from Scotland or that Mount Everest is the world''s tallest mountain, then there are at least 200 reasons why this is the book for you. The researchers at QI have written many bestselling books including such titles as The QI Book of General Ignorance and 1,277 Facts To Blow Your Socks Off. They now present a noticeably stouter edition, an indispensable handbook for trivia lovers, pub quiz enthusiasts and general knowledge experts alike. And remember - everything you think you know is still wrong.

In this kaleidoscopic miscellany of poems written in English and chichewa John wanda, man of many talents (and paid up member of Malawi''s awkward squad), shows that his endlessly fertile mind is perhaps at its most creative when he distils his thought into verse. On the serious side, the poet vividly evokes life in Malawi as experienced by people on both sides of the power/wealth divide and gives an incisive critique of the system that creates it and those who exploit it. Even on the silly side, the author''s humorous treatment of personally relatable experiences of disappointment, disillusionment, nostalgia, human frailty and of the foibles of himself and others says much about what it means to be human in a complex world. While the focus is very much on his beloved Malawi, the poet find space for observations about the international situation with swipes at Obama, Trump, Muhammad Ali, Mugabe and Cameron. This Rhino, for all his forcefulness has a surprisingly light touch and his ruminations will be enjoyed and appreciated by many. - David Bone, Al Maktoum College, Dundee, Scotland. John Lwanda weaves the immediacy of an extended ''haiku'' into a hard-hitting and scathing commentary on Malawi''s current affairs. The use of worldwide slang, from pidgin to ebonics receives more power from Malawi''s local languages. Malawi''s spoken-word poetry has entered a new sphere and John Lwanda would be a most welcome and revered member of this group of poets. - Professor Felix Mnthali, poet, novelist and academic. After going through some poems in the anthology I discovered a hidden touch and exceptional creativity; as such it requires wisdom for someone to appreciate. As a seasoned poet who has perfomed at big events in Germany, my overall conclusion is that the anthology is outstanding, authentic and exceptional. - Babangoni Kubvalandlibhiya Chisale, seasoned writer, social analyst and curator.

Fast on the heels of the New York Times bestseller The Book of General Ignorance comes The Book of Animal Ignorance, a fun, fact-filled bestiary that is sure to delight animal lovers everywhere. Arranged alphabetically from aardvark to worm, here are one hundred of the most interesting members of the animal kingdom explained, dissected, and illustrated, with the trademark wit and wisdom of John Lloyd and John Mitchinson. Did you know, for instance, that • when a young albatross takes wing, it may stay aloft for ten years • vampire bat saliva—unsurprisingly, when you think about it—is the source of the world’s most powerful blood thinning drug, appropriately called draculin • bombardier beetles fire a boiling chemical spray out of their rears at 300 pulses per second • a bald eagle’s feathers weigh twice as much as its bones • a giant tortoise recently died at the documented age of 255 • octopuses are dexterous enough to unscrew tops from jars • spider silk is so light that a strand long enough to circle the world would weigh as much as a bar of soap? So meet the water bears that can live in suspension for hundreds of years, the parasite carried by your cat that makes men grumpy and women promiscuous, and the woodlouse that drinks through its bottom. Marvel at elephants that walk on tiptoe, pigs that shine in the dark, and woodpeckers that have ears on the ends of their tongues. If you still think a pangolin is a musical instrument, that hyenas are dogs, or that sheep are pointless and stupid, The Book of Animal Ignorance has arrived just in time.

"Incidents of Travel Volume II" from John Lloyd Stephens. American explorer, writer, and diplomat (1805-1852).

The ultimate compendium of crisp one-liners, knockout jokes, droll asides and universal truths collected over the years by the creators of QI. ''You know ''that look'' women get when they want sex? Me neither.'' Steve Martin; ''You cannot prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from nesting in your hair.'' Chinese proverb; ''The Beatles are dying in the wrong order.'' Victor Lewis-Smith; ''Cauliflower is nothing but a cabbage with a college education.'' Mark Twain; ''Depend on the rabbit''s foot if you will, but remember: it didn''t work for the rabbit.'' R.E. Shay; ''If it were not for quotations, conversation between gentlemen would be an endless series of ''what-ho''s!'''' P. G.Wodehouse

The #1 British bestseller reveals all of the hugely entertaining misconceptions, mistakes, and misunderstandings in common knowledge.

The Third Book of General Ignorance gathers together 180 questions, both new and previously featured on the BBC TV programme''s popular ''General Ignorance'' round, and show why, when it comes to general knowledge, none of us knows anything at all. Who invented the sandwich? What was the best thing before sliced bread? Who first ate frogs'' legs? Which cat never changes its spots? What did Lady Godiva do? What can you legally do if you come across a Welshman in Chester after sunset?

The Third Book of General Ignorance gathers together 180 questions, both new and previously featured on the BBC TV programme''s popular ''General Ignorance'' round, and show why, when it comes to general knowledge, none of us knows anything at all. Who invented the sandwich? What was the best thing before sliced bread? Who first ate frogs'' legs? Which cat never changes its spots? What did Lady Godiva do? What can you legally do if you come across a Welshman in Chester after sunset?