When Do Fish Sleep and other Imponderables of everyday life by David Feldman

This book is the Fourth book in the "Imponderables" books, books that ask questions that are not usually known to anyone, but make us wonder as we travel down the road of life. Questions such as "Why do you always seem to find *only* a single shoe on the side of the highway, and not a pair?" or "Why is Flour Bleached?" or "Why are First Place Ribbons almost always Blue?" or "Why, when you order from a mailing order company do they tell you that orders will be shipped within 6 to 8 weeks? Does it always take that long to ship the order?"

After each question, the author answers it, such as, for the last, "They only say that so you won't complain about the order's lateness. If you get something faster than they say it will take, you're pleased. But if they gave a more realistic time, and it took longer for some reason, you'd be upset. So they pad their estimate so that people are pleasantly surprised rather than upset when their order arrives." That's the basic gist of the answer, though the answer in the book also includes an explanation of how mail-order businesses work, and commentary from the owners of mail-order businesses, expanding on the basic answer.

The book is filled with questions and answers like these, explaining how and why these things work. At the end of the over 80 questions, there are three more sections for readers. One is called "Frustables", which are questions the author couldn't answer thrown open to the readers of the book to try and answer definitively or not, a Frustables Update, giving answers submitted by readers, and a Letters section where readers give their own take on Imponderables explained by the author. Rounding out the book is an index of topics and questions covered by the book.

On the whole, this book is fun to read and fun to think about. Imponderables are defined as "Questions that can't be solved with numbers, measurements or a visit to the reference section of your local library", though of course, now that the book is written, there may well be a copy of such a book in your local reference library... But this book was a hoot and answered many questions that I didn't even know I wanted to ask... until I read this book.

The answers given are informative and engaging and are as much fun to read as it is to ponder the implications of the question. Whether the question is why cartoon characters only have three fingers and a thumb (because it's easier to draw, and four-fingered hands look too large in comparison to the body) or why tennis balls are fuzzy (to grip the racket better, and the court as well), you'll have fun reading them and finding out the answers.

I recommend this book highly to those who subscribe to Rikki-Tikki-Tavi's philosophy ("Seek and find out!") and to those who enjoy knowing bizarre facts and strange truths. The language and fun nature of the book makes it equally well-suited for teens and adults (Kids probably won't like it due to the slightly elevated and dense nature of the replies, despite the many cartoons that enliven the text. If you can find a copy of this book, read it. It will make you laugh and enlighten you on so many obscure things... and you'll enjoy every minute of it!