The Experts Speak : The Definitive Compendium of Authoritative Misinformation

Christopher Cerf; Victor S. Navasky

ISBN 10: 0679778063 / ISBN 13: 9780679778066

Published by Random House Publishing Group, 1998

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 0679778063-3-27617884

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Experts Speak : The Definitive Compendium of Authoritative Misinformation
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Publication Date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0679778063
• ISBN 13: 9780679778066
• Binding: paperback
• Condition: Good

About this title

Synopsis

The new and updated version of a classic reference work brings the history of distortions, errors, half-truths, and outright lies into the information age.

Who said the following?
-- "The one thing I won't let happen to me is I won't let a ball go through my legs".(1)
-- "640K ought to be enough for anybody".(2)
-- "Bill Clinton will lose to any Republican nominee who doesn't drool on stage".(3)

When first published in 1984, The Experts Speak was hailed by Time magazine as "irreverent, unfair and subversive", and over the years it has proven to be the ultimate resource for skeptics. Since then, we've lived through such monumental world events as the Gulf War, the Iran-contra scandal, and the O. J. Simpson trial, fostering the need to examine once more those sure things that turned out to be dead wrong.

Whether it's business or technology, the arts, the environment, or politics, The Experts Speak documents thousands of examples of expert miscalculation, misunderstanding, egregious prognostication, and boo-boos, all systematically cataloged, footnoted, and set straight.

This is a perfect gift for students of all ages, and sure to remain the lie-detector of record for years to come.

(1) Bill Buckner, Red Sox, first baseman, prior to the 1986 World Series

(2) Bill Gates, Microsoft, 1981

(3) Wall Street Journal editorial, October 1995

About the Author

Christopher Cerf is the co-editor of The Politically Correct Dictionary and Handbook and The Eighties: A Look Back at the Tumultuous Decade, 1980-1989. He is a former contributing editor to the National Lampoon, and he co-edited the newspaper parody Not the New York Times.

Victor Navasky is the publisher and editorial director of The Nation. He is the author of the American Book Award winner Naming Names and Kennedy Justice.