Why Don't Cats Like to Swim?: An Imponderables Book (Imponderables Series) » (Reprint)

David Feldman is the author of ten previous volumes of Imponderables^®. He has a master's degree in popular culture from Bowling Green State University in Ohio and consults and lectures on the media. He lives in New York City.

Why does an "X" stand for a kiss?
Which fruits are in Juicy Fruit® gum?
Why do people cry at happy endings?
Why do you never see baby pigeons?

Pop-culture guru David Feldman demystifies these topics and so much more in Why Don't Cats Like to Swim? — the unchallenged source of answers to civilization's most perplexing questions. Part of the Imponderables® series, Feldman's book arms readers with information about everyday life — from science, history, and politics to sports, television, and radio — that encyclopedias, dictionaries, and almanacs just don't have. Where else will you learn what makes women open their mouths when applying mascara?

Publishers Weekly

Feldman, a media consultant and lover of the obscure, here addresses scores of questions that one may have contemplated, but to which no answers are readily forthcomingwhy certain traffic jams occur and clear up without apparent reason, why the word ``Filipino'' is spelled with an F and not a Ph, why unleaded gasoline costs more than leaded. In an engaging, sometimes jocular manner, Feldman communicates an impressive amount of information: a piece on popcorn develops into an examination of the economics of running a movie theater; the answer to a question on laundry bleach is worthy of an encyclopedia. Occasionally, Feldman offers such a fresh way of looking at a phenomenonas when he discusses why people cry at happy endingsthat he makes us see it as if for the first time. This is an entertaining collection of trivial and not so trivial information. Illustrations not seen by PW. (April 21)