Christopher Cerf Book order (chronological)

In Encyclopedia Paranoiaca, master satirists Henry Beard and Christopher Cerf have assembled an authoritative, disturbingly comprehensive, and utterly debilitating inventory of things poised to harm, maim, or kill you – all of them based on actual research about the perils of everyday life. Beard and Cerf cite convincing evidence that everyday things we consider healthy – eating leafy greens, flossing, washing our hands – are actually harmful, and items we thought were innocuous – drinking straws, flip-flops, neckties, skinny jeans – pose life-threatening dangers. Did you know that nearly ten thousand people are sent to A&E each year because of escalator accidents? And if you're crossing your legs right now, you're definitely at serious risk.

Did you ever feel that the experts might not be as knowledgeable as they claim? Historical misjudgments abound, such as Irving Fisher's prediction of a "permanently high plateau" for stocks just before the 1929 crash, or Decca's dismissal of the Beatles in 1962. From the belief that Civil War films wouldn’t succeed to the skepticism about Japanese cars in the 1960s, experts have consistently missed the mark. Notably, the president of Digital Equipment Corporation asserted in 1977 that home computers were unnecessary, and The Wall Street Journal confidently predicted in 1995 that Bill Clinton would lose to any competent Republican. This work systematically catalogs these miscalculations, misunderstandings, and outright errors from experts across various fields, including economics, politics, and science. In this expanded edition, the collection illustrates the vast scope of expert misjudgment while also offering a reflective narrative on human knowledge. It explores the contrast between what was believed and what has been proven true, revealing the limitations of expert insight throughout history.

Now that some American students have to fill in questionnaires for consensual lovemaking, going on a date is more of a minefield than ever before. This book aims to tell readers the truth about politically correct sex and is anecdotal, topical and amusing.

An essential handbook for the nineties, providing a fool proof guard against those politically incorrect faux pas which can ruin social and professional life.