If you need to know the exact rationale for "I did not have sex with that woman", or the origin of spaghetti trees, this book is for you. I wasn't to keen on the organization of the book or the rambling narrative. ( )

You really shouldn't believe everything you read, and Alex Boese has lots and lots of examples of the reasons why not. Most of what he talks about here are things you're likely to encounter on the internet: hoax websites, photoshopped pictures, e-mail scams, bizarre rumors, and so on, although he also does also include sections on things like political lies, shady business dealings, and "reality" TV. Often he'll present a number of odd little stories on a particular topic, sorting out which are true and which are false.

Since this was published in 2006, it feels a little... Well, not dated, exactly, but certainly not up-to-date. After all, six years is a long time on the internet. Still, a lot of these same fakes and urban legends and things are still very much with us; it's not like Nigerian princes in need of your bank account information are ever going to disappear. Regardless, I wouldn't recommend this as a comprehensive guide to to what real and what's not. It's a little too random for that, and not quite serious or thorough enough. If that's what you're looking for, you're much better off visiting snopes.com. But it is entertaining to browse through, and it might cause you to think twice about the next slightly-too-weird news story you come across. ( )

Interesting and light-hearted, but not as coherently structured as Boese's other book, "Elephants on Acid". Here, although the stories are separated thematically into chapters ("Food", "Email", "The News", and so on), within each chapter the fakes, myths and odd-but-true stories are all mixed up together, making it tricky to remember afterwards which were which! ( )

Reviewed by Taylor Rector for TeensReadToo.com

HIPPO EATS DWARF: A FIELD GUIDE TO HOAXES AND OTHER B.S. is hilarious! If you want something light and fun to read, then this is the book for you! And how could you not want to read a book called HIPPO EATS DWARF? As if that isn't the greatest title ever!

This book is all about hoaxes that people have created or have thought up! There are some great ones in this book. They are things as obvious as the "you must forward this e-mail or you are going to die" e-mails that everyone gets to the unreality of reality TV shows.

I really liked this book, and have a friend who really liked it, also. There are some really funny, useless facts in this book, too. I definitely will tell all of my friends to read this! ( )

The title is taken from an often reported but untrue story about a hippo in a circus swalling a dwarf which the audience mistakes for part of the act. This story is the introduction to hoaxes, urban legends and frauds throughout history. These tales are grouped by subject, beginning with birth, ending with death and covering politics, food, entertainment and the internet along the way. The book is full of weird ancedotes, and tips for spotting things that aren't real, but it does also cover some serious cases such as Enron, which gives it more depth. ( )