What do you think?
Rate this book
The Quite Interesting Ignorant Books #1.5
QI: The Sound of General Ignorance
Listen and Learn! The Sound of General Ignorance brings you all the best bits of the number one bestseller The Book of General Ignorance in handy audio form.
Allow yourself to wallow in the misconceptions, mistakes and misunderstandings in 'common knowledge'. Your new-found wisdom will help you 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! Everything you think you know is- WRONG!
Allow yourself to wallow in the misconceptions, mistakes and misunderstandings in 'common knowledge'. Your new-found wisdom will help you 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! Everything you think you know is- WRONG!
- GenresNonfictionAudiobook
Audible Audio
First published April 13, 2013
2 people are currently reading
102 people want to read
About the author
John Lloyd
228 books141 followersJohn Hardress Wilfred Lloyd is an English television and radio comedy producer and writer. His television work includes Not the Nine O'Clock News, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Spitting Image, Blackadder and QI. He is currently the presenter of BBC Radio 4's The Museum of Curiosity.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
January 16, 2022
As foods for thought go, this one is definitely a salad, and a finely chopped salad at that.
"QI: The Sound of General Ignorance" sets out to reveal the many examples of general ignorance: bits of trivia people are sure to be true which are actually false, areas of knowledge the general public might consider to be well-understood by scientists while in reality they are still covered in mystery.
Along the way we are fed lots of fascinating bits of trivia: from admiral Nelson never actually using an eye-patch up until his death, to dolphins shutting out only half-brain while they are sleep so that the other half remembers to make them rise to take a breath; from Ancient Egypt to gravitational waves; from naming of America to the invention of the standard telephone greeting-- it's all well-mixed in the QI salad, and you keep jumping from one bite to another, all over the plate.
Ironically, the authors sometimes indulge in the same sin they supposedly set out against in their readers: misconceptions, oversimplification and lack of knowledge. For example, the surprising absence of elementary understanding of how genetics works and what the theory of evolution actually is about comes to mind when they get to the dog breeds bite of their knowledge mix.
Right at the end we are told that QI stands for Quite Interesting, but the authors don't necessarily claim to be quite right. I absolutely agree with both parts of this statement, and if I had to write a review in one sentence, "quite interesting but not always quite right" would have sufficed perfectly.
"QI: The Sound of General Ignorance" sets out to reveal the many examples of general ignorance: bits of trivia people are sure to be true which are actually false, areas of knowledge the general public might consider to be well-understood by scientists while in reality they are still covered in mystery.
Along the way we are fed lots of fascinating bits of trivia: from admiral Nelson never actually using an eye-patch up until his death, to dolphins shutting out only half-brain while they are sleep so that the other half remembers to make them rise to take a breath; from Ancient Egypt to gravitational waves; from naming of America to the invention of the standard telephone greeting-- it's all well-mixed in the QI salad, and you keep jumping from one bite to another, all over the plate.
Ironically, the authors sometimes indulge in the same sin they supposedly set out against in their readers: misconceptions, oversimplification and lack of knowledge. For example, the surprising absence of elementary understanding of how genetics works and what the theory of evolution actually is about comes to mind when they get to the dog breeds bite of their knowledge mix.
Right at the end we are told that QI stands for Quite Interesting, but the authors don't necessarily claim to be quite right. I absolutely agree with both parts of this statement, and if I had to write a review in one sentence, "quite interesting but not always quite right" would have sufficed perfectly.
March 19, 2020
A part for a strong UK center bias, I spotted different errors, one I am absolutely sure of.. Marco POLO is not MARK CHICKEN!!!!! POLO is like in North Pole! Nothing related to chickens!
January 2, 2021
Reflections and lessons learned:
AAF ALERT!! Amazing ant facts! Possibly raises more questions than it answers though - for instance, how do the Welsh describe the colour of leather or dirt? Should I try writing for 35 miles to see how a pencil wears?
I was disappointed as this took me a few attempts to finish as the narration felt quite dry - did I need to listen to it slower or would that have been more infuriating? Although the deadpan delivery of the word ‘droop’ was very funny...!
AAF ALERT!! Amazing ant facts! Possibly raises more questions than it answers though - for instance, how do the Welsh describe the colour of leather or dirt? Should I try writing for 35 miles to see how a pencil wears?
I was disappointed as this took me a few attempts to finish as the narration felt quite dry - did I need to listen to it slower or would that have been more infuriating? Although the deadpan delivery of the word ‘droop’ was very funny...!
August 24, 2020
This is basically a collection of the links that Stephen Fry and Sandi Toksvig say on the television show immediately after Alan Davies has set the klaxon off. If you’re a fan of the show then this is actually all the stuff that you’ve learned in a single volume. Worth a read - or a listen - for people that have never seen QI, that avid fans can also enjoy
April 29, 2020
Fascinating, as always with QI. It seemed to work quite well as an audiobook, although this does rather force one to gorge on the content. I think this sort of material is probably best suited to being read in small chunks, so perhaps better as a paper book to go on that shelf next to the toilet?
March 23, 2021
Full of factoids and fun
Bought as a DD and not my usual listen. Really enjoyed this and listened to it on an extended dog walk. Things I thought I knew and things I definitely didn’t know. I’m not sure if it’s all true but it was fun
Bought as a DD and not my usual listen. Really enjoyed this and listened to it on an extended dog walk. Things I thought I knew and things I definitely didn’t know. I’m not sure if it’s all true but it was fun
October 30, 2019
Cel kup zanimivosti, fino poslušanje.
February 29, 2020
This is such a good book. Very interesting and well written. Would definitely recommend if you are interdd Ed ted in general knowledge, quirky facts, and like a light hearted humorous approach.
March 11, 2020
Prepárense porque ahora tengo más datos inútiles que nunca para soltar casualmente en las conversaciones más inesperadas.
September 18, 2020
I am always amazed at the level of my general ignorance. This book is great fun and I highly recommend it to the normal crew.
January 24, 2021
Random and general facts and corrections of common misconceptions in the same style that appear on QI. Small chapters/facts make it easy to pick up for a few minutes at a time as well.
March 30, 2021
Quite interesting
June 28, 2021
Review to come
July 28, 2021
Listened to this on audio and it is full of short snappy little bits of information. Good book not amazing.
January 11, 2022
Fascinating, a great listen.
August 21, 2022
QI means quite interesting, not quite true.
Some of facts in this book doesn't agree with the good sources on the internet.
Some of facts in this book doesn't agree with the good sources on the internet.
November 3, 2022
If you have listened to "No such thing as a fish" or watched QI, You know what to expect. A fascinating collection of stories that pop the balloons of things we think we know!
June 2, 2025
2.5/5 A compendium of facts told in a rather dull manner. This material would have likely benefited from a visual presentation via YouTube or TikTok.
May 17, 2020
Summary:
I don't have much to say about this book. It's kind of a free flowing chain of trivia question answers. I thought I'd find it interesting, and I suppose there were a few bits of information worth holding onto. However, a lot of the content covered is really just not that significant. I kind of found myself thinking "Yeah, okay, but so what?"
I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.
The main message I took from this book is to be curious.
I have no notable points for this one as every point in the book is just a common misconception. I could list a few, but they're just not that great!
I don't have much to say about this book. It's kind of a free flowing chain of trivia question answers. I thought I'd find it interesting, and I suppose there were a few bits of information worth holding onto. However, a lot of the content covered is really just not that significant. I kind of found myself thinking "Yeah, okay, but so what?"
I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.
The main message I took from this book is to be curious.
I have no notable points for this one as every point in the book is just a common misconception. I could list a few, but they're just not that great!
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews