Bibliophiles, grab your glasses! Here is a compendium of interesting--and often scandalous--facts and quips about the literary world. Featuring authors and tomes of yesteryear and yesterday, from Tolkien's Middle-earth to Jeffrey Eugenides's Middlesex , you'll sections such as:  

• You Don't Say?: Commonly-used words and phrases that were coined or popularized in classic words of fiction--sometimes with very different meanings.  

• Gruesomely Ever After: The original endings of some of the world's most cherished fairy tales--"Snow White," "The Little Mermaid," "Cinderella," and more.  

• Parental Guidance Suggested: Banned works of fiction and the controversy surrounding them.  

• Lions and Tigers and Bears (Oh My!): The real-life stories and inspirations behind beloved "leading creatures."  

• Time to Make the Doughnuts: Odd jobs of famous authors.  

• Tell Me a Story: Dahl's short stories, Seuss's political cartoons; the lesser-known, and sometimes shocking, adult writings of beloved children's authors.  

• The Long Con: Shocking (and sometimes shockingly long-lived) literary hoaxes: Frey, JT Leroy, The Education of Little Tree , The Day After Roswell , etc.  

• Science Fiction, Science Fact: If alien monoliths are ever found on the moon, the safer bet is that they would be translucent crystal; Sir Arthur C. Clarke is celebrated for making accurate predictions of various technologies, years ahead of their time. A look at which of his predictions held true and the same feats of other authors.  

• Yes, But is it Art?: The weirdest books ever written: books without verbs, without punctuationÖor without the letter "e".  

Make this and all of the Blackboard Booksô a permanent fixture on your eReader, and you'll have instant access to searchable knowledge. Whether you need homework help or want to win that trivia game, this series is the trusted source for fun facts.

"A lot of fun and could be useful conversation fodder for holiday parties. You can scandalize (Danielle Steel has been married five times, twice to felons), amuse (Kerouac wrote "On the Road" on one 119-foot scroll of paper, and a friend's cocker spaniel ate the last few lines) and impress (Dostoyevsky's second wife, Anna, kept a private, encrypted diary, the code to which wasn't cracked until long after her death)."  

-Minneapolis Star Tribune

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