Answers to Questions You've Never Asked

Book excerpt: The #1 bestselling trivia collection with bizarre facts to entertain you for hours, from the creator of YouTube’s RealLifeLore. Where can I move to so that I’m never tempted by McDonald’s again? How far into the Pacific does Trump’s wall stretch? If Plato came back to life, what would he think of modern democracy? Why do all empires fail? Who decides what countries are allowed to participate in the Olympics? What makes Finland so great? When you take the most absurd parts of history, science, economics, and geography, you end up with a pretty confusing picture of humanity. Why do we have borders, what’s the furthest you can get from the ocean, how do you qualify as a country, and why did Vikings wear those silly helmets? These are just a few of the strange questions that bounce around the head of YouTube sensation Joseph Pisenti, aka RealLifeLore. In his debut book, Pisenti explores the nonsensical humor of the universe with in-depth analysis of empires, economies, and ecosystems as he helps answer the ridiculous. Why, you ask? Because someone has to. Using line drawings, graphs, and charts, Pisenti not only details the absurd—he also provides explanations on why things are . . . and why they aren’t.