Book Review: Stuff You Should Know
I recently finished reading Stuff You Should Know: An Incomplete Compendium of Mostly Interesting Things written by Josh Clark, Chuck Bryant, and Nils Parker. This book was published on November 24 2020, and will soon celebrate its second birthday. I read the Barnes & Noble edition of the book, which contains twenty-seven standard chapters plus a “bonus” chapter about Superman and is 293 pages long. The book based on the similarly named podcast “Stuff You Should Know”, or SYSK, which debuted in 2008 and is now distributed by iHeartRadio. Red podcast icons indicate when a topic mentioned in the book has an accompanying podcast episode, which are listed at the back of the book. Both the book and podcast cover a wide range of topics in history, culture, and science.
I enjoyed every part of this book. The writing style is light and easy-to-read, with plenty of “dad jokes” and silly footnotes. Most chapters are fun read-aloud material for the whole family. The illustrations and sections within chapters made the book easy to read in short bursts or in a long sitting. My favorite sections were the chapters “Mr. Potato Head”, describing the history of this famous toy from Hasbro made in nearby Pawtucket, Rhode Island; “The Pet Rock”, examining the holiday marketing craze of 1975; Do(ugh)nuts, describing the history and spelling of a tasty treat; and the bonus chapter on “Superman”, including the creation of the superhero and the ways his character has changed.
As a long-time listener to the SYSK podcast, I have almost no faults with this book, except that the jokes occasionally get a little too silly. As a researcher, I would have appreciated a short bibliography at the back of the book to show where they are getting their information. While I trust the information presented, this book should not be cited like an encyclopedia. I encourage fans of other popular history or fun fact books to check out this enjoyable read. An audiobook version read by Clark and Bryant is also available.
Abby Epplett’s Rating System
Experience: 9/10
Accessibility: 9/10