Andrew asks his question of everyone he meets, including the librarian and the minister, until he finds an answer that satisfies him.

Blame it on my father. He was a great bloke and all that but he was also one hell of a contrary bugger. He’d contradict anything anyone said just for the hell of it. He’d even disagree on the weather which, let’s face it, is the one thing upon which everyone always agrees. Anyway, along with the old man’s bloody gout and his double chin, I’ve clearly inherited his predilection for looking at the flip side of just about everything. So while the rest of the world strains to hear the latest news on the perils of smoking, I’m the one saying, “yes, but what are the benefits?” But I haven’t just been pondering my own queries: friends and readers of my columns in magazine and newspapers have asked me such posers as Do TV Detector Vans Really Work, Why Do I Need A Cigarette Before I Can Have A Crap, Is It True That Keith Richards Used To Get His Blood Entirely Replaced, Are You Better Off Running Or Walking Through The Rain, Do Two Wrongs Make A Right, What's The Kindest Way To Tell A Friend That They Have Halitosis, Do Women Who Live/work Together Menstruate At The Same Time and Why Is A Red Herring Red?

Sides (contributing editor, Outside) fields questions from readers of his column "The Wild File." Focusing on natural history and outdoor lore, this collection includes questions about the strange doings of the natural world. Do beavers ever get squashed by the trees they're chewing down? What good are goosebumps? Why do men have nipples? How do penguins keep their feet from freezing? Why do llamas spit? c. Book News Inc.

O'Bryons new book is packed with quotes, trivia, historical interest, inspiration, and wisdom. (Christian)

The Children of the Danube were on the move again.They were the descendants of the settlers who had joined the trek down the Danube River in the Great Swabian Migration from Germany to the Kingdom of Hungary in the early 18thcentury.Perhaps like their forebears, adventure may have been the driving force for some of them, while desperation drove others as they sought to make a life for themselves and their families.They were faced with limited options if they remained in their original settlements: whereland was running out, restrictions against the Lutherans and Reformed were becoming more intolerable and the increasing and often unjust demands of the nobles made it more and more difficult to provide for their families. The Pioneerstells this story through the lives and loves of three generations of the Tefner family in the unfolding story of Drnberg where their lives intersected with the families who would eventually become part of the authors extended family and which they shared with all the others who were part of their life together. They found themselves isolated, confronted by a wilderness and created an economic miracle.Destructive fires and raging floods, famine and drought, bandit raids and epidemics tested them but did not overcome their indomitable will, which was sustained by their faith.A faith that was outlawed but continued underground unabated until the Edict of Toleration granted them freedom of conscience.Nor would they simply cower before the injustices inflicted upon them by the nobles and authorities without protest.Their lives were lived within the broader scope of the history of their times that played a vital role in their development, destiny and character.Emperor Joseph II, the Bishop of Veszprm, Martin Bir von Padny, Anton von Kaunitz, Count Styrum Limberg, the Empress Maria Theresia, the three Counts von Mercy and countless other notable personages all make their appearance and leave their mark onThe Pioneers.