Rules of Thumb: A Life Manual

Overview

A mix of folk wisdom, common sense, shared experience, the advice of experts, and the kind of group think that's made websites like Wikipedia so vital, Rules of Thumb is the impulsive compendium of 1,000 general principles that apply to every facet of life. Collected by Tom Parker for over 25 years, these are rules that are practical, quirky, and as entertaining to read as they are relevant to the reader.

There's a rule of thumb for just about every subject imaginable— money, ...

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Overview

A mix of folk wisdom, common sense, shared experience, the advice of experts, and the kind of group think that's made websites like Wikipedia so vital, Rules of Thumb is the impulsive compendium of 1,000 general principles that apply to every facet of life. Collected by Tom Parker for over 25 years, these are rules that are practical, quirky, and as entertaining to read as they are relevant to the reader.

There's a rule of thumb for just about every subject imaginable— money, marriage, cooking, health, weather, cars, gardening, restaurants, travel. This is the priceless knowledge that's accumulated not from reading, but from living. Tempted by a string of pearls at a yard sale? Rub them against your teeth: The rule of thumb, as your grandmother might have told you, is that a genuine pearl will grate. Not sure how to choose a puppy? Pick one whose tail wags in sync with its walk—a sign of calmness. To win at blackjack, assume that any unseen card is an eight. And remember, a rule of thumb works four out of five times (including this one).

Hundreds of new ways to guess and get away with it; chosen from entries received from all around the country.

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Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
When he published his favorite rules of thumb in 1983, Parker asked readers to send theirs in. They are published heremany are literarily oriented, covering such topics as typos (``Cheap paperback novels average one typographical error for every ten pages'') and writing (``Professional writers average about twenty words per sentence''). Other subjects include ties (``A 3-inch-wide tie will never go out of style''), poverty (``You are close to poverty when paper towels are a luxury item'') and organization (``A cooperative effort loses effectiveness when it includes more than fifteen people''). Many of the entries are from Scott Parker (no relation to the author) of Beaumont, Tex., whose dozens of entries include, ``The average American has a vocabulary of three thousand words.'' Parker has created a well-drawn and effective book, and offbeat photos illustrate 56 of the rules.(November)
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780761150732
  • Publisher: Workman Publishing Company, Inc.
  • Publication date: 10/1/2008
  • Pages: 409
  • Sales rank: 528,312
  • Product dimensions: 4.00 (w) x 5.90 (h) x 1.20 (d)

Meet the Author

Tom Parker is an author and illustrator who has written three volumes of Rules of Thumb, which The Wall Street Journal called a "brilliantly successful sample of our hidden intellectual resource." He is an IT specialist at Cornell University, a contributing writer for Make magazine, and a flight instructor. He lives in Ithaca, New York.
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Sort by: Showing all of 2 Customer Reviews
  • Posted August 17, 2009

    Rule of Thumb

    I use this as a point of reference for an e-mail that we circulate among a group of co-workers to stimulate dialogue and allow colleagues to get to know one another. It is an wonderfully invaluable tool. We re-word the statements into questions and get feedback. It's a great ice-breaker. We have a team who reads, researches and re-words the information into provocative, thoughtful questions and we go from there. It is great for those of us who are not "idea" people.

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  • Posted February 23, 2009

    Fun and interesting

    I really enjoyed reading this book. It's informative and funny at the same time. Most of the information is useful, and the authors make sure you know that the rules have been researched where possible. Many of the rules you will be familiar with, many will make you slap your forehead. I usually pass my books on for other people. I'm keeping this one.

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