If a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, Michael Feldman's new book, Whad'ya Knowledge?, would be downright terrifying if it weren't so: a) satiric; b) sardonic; c) witty; d) all of the above. Hey, wait a minute - is this a test?Well, sort of. This may be the Information Age, but the host of public radio's most popular talk-quiz-game show thinks we Americans don't know very much, and he has just the solution: the definitive guide to stuff you probably didn't know and didn't even know you needed to know. But you do if you want to be well informed when the twenty-first century rolls around. Sounds like serious stuff, but Feldman's wonderfully wacky, slightly surreal, and always gentle humor leaves no attitude - or pun - unexplored. In five major categories - People, Places, Science, Odds 'n' Ends, and Things You Should Have Learned in School (Had You Been Paying Attention) - the Sage of Wisconsin offers 625 mostly multiple-choice questions and their answers (they're tough tests to fail), and for good measure, insightful(!) analysis from the smart guy himself. The questions are fairly reasonable: What percentage of Americans get their water intake from beer? The answers are real: Only 1 percent hydrate with beer. The commentaries are Feldmanesque: That figure, Feldman notes, is slightly higher in Wisconsin.Sprinkled throughout the quizzes is a series of broad essays known affectionately as Deep Background - briefings so thoroughly superficial that only U.S. presidents have been privy to them. They're on all manner of subject, and all have the kind of loony perspective on history that you would expect from the author: Who took the first bath? What was Richard Nixon like as a boy? Do animals lie?Okay, so all this knowledge is not going to qualify you for a doctorate, but it will prepare you for the future, and for any cocktail party in the meantime - e.g., How many people have leftovers in the refrigerator that are more than four weeks old?The answer is 5 percent. Well, whad'ya knowledge? Read Less