Questions & Answers in The Books Store

Hofstadter’s collection of quirky essays is unified by its primary concern: to examine the way people perceive and think.

Why do Americans care so much about the Founding Fathers? After all, the French don't ask themselves, "What would Napoleon do?" But Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Hamilton, Madison, and Adams built our country, wrote our user's manuals--the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution--and ran the nation while it was still under warranty and could be returned to the manufacturer. If anyone knows how the U.S.A. should work, they did and they still do. Richard Brookhiser has been writing, talking, and thinking about the Founders for years. Now he channels them. What would Hamilton think about free trade? What would Franklin make of the national obsession with values? What would Washington say about gays in the military? Examining a host of issues from terrorism to women's rights to gun control, Brookhiser reveals why we still turn to the Founders in moments of struggle, farce, or disaster--just as Lincoln, FDR, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Bill Clinton have done before us. Written with Brookhiser's trademark eloquence--and a good dose of wit--while drawing on his deep knowledge of American history, What Would the Founders Do? sheds new light on the disagreements and debates that have shaped our country from the beginning. Brookhiser challenges us to think and act with the clarity that the Founders brought to the task of making a democratic country. Now, more than ever, we need these creators of America--argumentative, expansive, funny know-it-alls--to help us solve the issues that threaten to divide us.

For the readers who made Why Do Men Have Nipples? a bestseller comes this collection of mind-boggling answers to everyday (and not-so-everyday) questions. 
 
Can a thick pair of shoes save you in a nuclear attack?  How do you cut off your own arm? Are live insects safe to eat?  How much can you understand while you’re in a coma?  Can science prove or disprove the existence of God?  Can your iPod make you hallucinate?  Do pregnant women make better wine tasters? Can You Drill a Hole in Your Head and Survive? tackles age-old health and scientific quandaries.  Addictive and endlessly entertaining, this is the perfect gift for know-it-alls and know-nothings alike.