The Theory of Everything Else: A Voyage Into the World of the Weird

by Dan Schreiber

Overview

"A pleasure. ... Suitable for beach reading or for mainlining before a dinner party." —Dan Piepenbring, New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice)

"Absorbing. ... As thoughtfully written as it is nuts." —Chicago Tribune

A collection of the world’s most mind-boggling, thought-provoking, and downright hilarious theories by the co-host of the hit podcast No Such Thing as a Fish, Dan Schreiber.

Why are we here? Do ghosts exist? Will we ever travel back in time? Are we being visited by extraterrestrials? Will we ever talk to animals? Are we being told the truth? Are mysterious creatures roaming the Earth? And why, when you’re in the shower, does the shower curtain always billow in towards you?

We don’t know the answers to any of these questions (that includes the shower-curtain one, which is a mystery that has eluded scientists for decades, and which they are still trying to solve). But don’t worry, no matter what questions you have, you can bet on the fact that there is someone (or something) out there, investigating it on your behalf—and Dan Schreiber collects their latest findings.

From the Silicon Valley tech billionaires currently trying to work out whether or not the universe is one giant video game simulation to the self-proclaimed community of Italian time-travelers who are trying to save the world from destruction; The Theory of Everything Else will act as a handbook for those who want to think differently.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063259201
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	06/11/2024
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	401,235
Product dimensions:	5.31(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.83(d)

About the Author

Dan Schreiber is an author, podcaster, and presenter who has made a career out of combining interesting facts with comedy. He is the co-host of the UK’s most streamed podcast, No Such Thing as a Fish, which has been downloaded more than 400 million times. He also co-hosts The Cryptid Factor podcast and is co-creator of the Rose d’Or Award–winning BBC Radio 4 panel show The Museum of Curiosity. He lives in London.

Editorial Reviews

"A pleasure. ... Schreiber is at his best when he’s digging into renowned loci of weirdness. ... Suitable for beach reading or for mainlining before a dinner party. Schreiber brings a formidable amount of research to bear." — Dan Piepenbring, New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)

"Absorbing. ... As thoughtfully written as it is nuts." — Chicago Tribune

"Totally compelling and utterly bizarre." — Louis Theroux

"Dan Schreiber takes peculiar theories about some of life’s greatest mysteries and spins them into nonstop hilarity. ... His research is extensive, covering all areas of the globe and a variety of cultures as he considers the possibility of a hollow Earth, the extinction of pubic lice, the chance that reptilian aliens walk among us and many more far-fetched and otherwise wacky notions. ... The Theory of Everything Else is a wild, witty and entertaining ride into the funhouse of the unexplained and the unexplainable. Hop on and enjoy the trip." — BookPage

"Fascinating. ... A cheerful collection of paranormal phenomena, correct prophecies, alien encounters, and unlikely historical events. ... Skeptics will find good reason to gnash their teeth, and lovers of alternative facts will enjoy an embarrassment of riches." — Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

05/01/2023

No Such Thing as a Fish podcaster Schreiber debuts with a humorous survey of bizarre “speculations, beliefs and claims, begging to be accepted as truths.” Contending that “pretty much everyone in the world” believes their own “bit of batshit,” Schreiber documents Nancy Reagan’s consultations with an astrologer on Cold War negotiations, tennis star Novak Djokovic’s pilgrimages to ancient Bosnian pyramids purported to emit cosmic energy, and more. Even NASA has been convinced by unlikely theories, and once funded the research of a neuroscientist who aimed to establish human-to-dolphin communication. While Schreiber’s anecdotes don’t offer much more than entertainment value, readers will be charmed by his colorful narration and clear enthusiasm for the hypocrisies of human beliefs, including continued popular fixations with 16th-century “seer” Nostradamus, despite his predictions’ “jaw-droppingly low hit rate,” and intractable Bermuda Triangle superstitions (“the number of ships and planes that go missing there is pretty much the same percentage as anywhere else in the world”). This will delight anyone looking for dinner conversation fodder who doesn’t mind raising a few eyebrows. (June)

Publishers Weekly

2023-04-04
A collection of wacky beliefs, incidents, and conspiracy theories that will amuse many readers.

Schreiber, co-host of the hit podcast No Such Thing as a Fish, assembles a selection of his more oddball interviews and adds a torrent of historical eccentrics and anecdotes. Skeptics will find good reason to gnash their teeth, and lovers of alternative facts will enjoy an embarrassment of riches. One fascinating story involves the work of neuroscientist John Lilly, who sought “to teach dolphins to speak the English language so perfectly that they would be given a chair at the United Nations to speak on behalf of all marine mammals.” Surprisingly, the chestnut about the faked Apollo landing is absent, but the astronauts themselves were apparently an offbeat bunch, deeply religious before or converted by the experience, when not preoccupied by the paranormal. The book is overpopulated with aliens, whether they were witnessed or were historical figures (Jesus may have been one). Stories of encountering ghosts or talking to the dead are almost too common to attract readers’ attention, but Schreiber collects a crowd of them. Billions of mildly interesting coincidences occur every day, and nearly every prediction of the future turns out to be wrong, but a few hit the mark. Schreiber delivers breathless accounts of many. The author portrays himself as a man of good sense partial to scientific evidence. He also knows that debunkers sell modestly, but outright zany authors and books often make the bestseller lists. He admits doubts about some particularly outlandish stories but otherwise confines his qualms to the occasional skeptical footnote or hint (“according to science”). Ghost hunters and conspiracy theorists will find plenty of red meat to chew on, whether Schreiber is discussing clairvoyance, “pyramid energy,” “the theory of the hollow earth,” or the idea that time travelers sank the Titanic, not an iceberg.

A cheerful collection of paranormal phenomena, correct prophecies, alien encounters, and unlikely historical events.

Kirkus Reviews