Never Shower in a Thunderstorm...the book

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NEVER SHOWER IN A THUNDERSTORM Surprising Facts And Misleading Myths About Our Health And The World We Live In is a book that sums up its content and draws upon your curiosity with the title. Anahad O’Connor is the author of the fore mentioned book and as a reporter for THE NEW YORK TIMES he has the qualified exposure to the thousands of odd questions and wonderments readers could ask. Based off of his column in the paper entitled: “REALLY?”, Anahad investigates and reports back with his findings for quirky questions involving science, health, and the world around us. The book is divided into 11 different sections of grouped questions; ranging from the title inquiry to things like: Do tall people live longer than short people?, Does Spanish fly really exist?, Can green tea help you lose weight?, Does eating carrots improve your eyesight?, Do toilet seats spread germs?, Do cell phones cause brain cancer?, and is the back of an airplane the safest place to sit? However I found that the majority of the questions answered seemed to deal with topics that were probably proposed by an older generation of readers. It was surprising to me that I could only identify with having curiosity over a few of the subjects, especially when the author from his picture looks sort of like the young singer Usher. Considering that this book stems from a series of newspaper articles, I figure that older people are more avid readers of such media and thus write in more, because truly all of these answers could be found on the internet in seconds. The author approaches each question very professionally, and scientifically, yet manages to weave a very important sense of humor throughout. Particularly, I enjoyed the introductions used to set up each section of answered questions. This is a “toilet book” and I mean that in the best way possible. It is not the type of book you just sit down and read cover to cover. It is the type of book you can take into the bathroom when you are on the porcelain throne and read over and over again. The questions are written in newspaper article length which is perfect for combining with natural duties. The book does generate some interest in the reader to check out THE NEW YORK TIMES and search for the “REALLY?” column. So, it would only seem right and fair if they were to continue investigating and publishing books like this as a collectable series. NEVER SHOWER IN A THUNDERSTORM is good advice and my advice to you is pick up a copy and learn while you poop. Or get others involved and buy a copy as a “coffee” table version for group discussions and interesting party trivia…or leave the bathroom door open.