Peculiar Questions and Practical Answers

I came across Peculiar Questions and Practical Answers: A Little Book of Whimsy and Wisdom from the Files of the New York Public Library in my own public library. It's the perfect book to find in your library, not just because it feels meta, but because this is a browsing kind of book. I would never sit down to read this book cover-to-cover because it's a collection of questions from the NYPL archives. I'm not sure I would want to own it.

Several years ago, New York Public Library staff discovered a box filled with file cards of written questions submitted to librarians from the 1940s to 1980s. Not all peculiar questions have practical or witty answers, but they went into the archive to select those that the staff felt were peculiar and that had interesting answers.

I doubt that you have had most of these questions yourself, but wondering if anyone has a copyright on the Bible does make sense to me as a question someone might have in mind.

Barry Blitt, known as an illustrator for The New Yorker, created great watercolors for many of the questions.

"May a funeral be held on July 4th?"
"Can you keep an octopus in a private home?"
“In what occupations may one be barefooted?”
"What does it mean when you’re being chased by an elephant?”
“Can you give me the name of a book that dramatizes bedbugs?”
“What time does a bluebird sing?”
"How much did Napoleon's brain weigh?"
"How many seeds are in a watermelon?"
“What does it mean when you’re being chased by an elephant?”
“What kind of apple did Eve eat?”
"What is the life cycle of an eyebrow hair?"
“How many neurotic people are there in the U.S.?”
“In what occupations may one be barefooted?”
“What time does a bluebird sing?”
“What does it mean when you’re being chased by an elephant?”
“What kind of apple did Eve eat?”
“How many neurotic people are there in the U.S.?”

Have you ever wondered about these kinds of things? I guess you should dip into this book.