Instructions for Life from the Everyday to the Exotic

Another interesting library pickup... Show Me How: 500 Things You Should Know Instructions for Life From the Everyday to the Exotic by Derek Fagerstrom, Lauren Smith, and "The Show Me Team". Anytime someone tells me there's 500 things I should know how to do, I'm naturally curious as to how ill-equipped I might be to make it through life. While I would quibble a bit on the "should know" piece, this really is a good book and one that I may end up ordering from the store just to have around.

The chapters are divided into the following basic categories: Make, Eat, Drink, Style, Love, Nest, Grow, Thrive, Go, Survive, and Wow. Rather than go into lengthy text descriptions of each "how to", they've opted to use diagrams with as few words as possible. So under Drink, you learn how to properly open and pour a bottle of wine, how to remove cork bits from wine, how to evaluate a wine, and how to "dazzle with sabrage". Yeah, I didn't know about that last one either. It comes from Napoleonic times, when soldiers would use their swords to open a bottle of champaign by striking the lip of the bottle where the seams meet. This removed both the tip of the bottle *and* the cork, and was quite the show. Granted, I don't know how many of you have a decent sword on hand to entertain your guests, but if you do...

Not all of the how to's are quite that spectacular. You learn how to tie a bowtie and a windsor knot in a regular tie. There's how to hem jeans (a constant in our family of short people), how to sew on a new button, and how to iron a button-down shirt. Of course, that's all prefaced by how to wear a kimono and how to decode kimono styles. The first part of that list I'd find very useful. The last part? Not so much if I'm not heading over to Japan anytime in the near future. But I now know how to create water in the desert, use my pants to stay afloat, wrestle an alligator (useful for my next DisneyWorld trip?), and how to get up on a elephant, camel, and horse (again, probably not immediately useful for my near-term future)...

Yeah, you really do need to take some of these as very tongue-in-cheek, as the odds of needing to know how to get out of quicksand probably wouldn't make my top 500 list. But the illustrations are great, the range of topics is impressive, and it's quite amazing how much they end up conveying without paragraphs of explanation. You'll know how to do some stuff already, you'll never need to know other items, but I'm pretty sure you'll come away from Show Me How wanting to try out a few new skills. Personally, I want to try the "open a beer with another beer" trick... :)

Cool! Neat-o! "500 things you should know--Instructions for life from the everyday to the exotic". This is a big book of (really) 500 ways to do things, all kinds of things. Published in 2008, it is primarily pictorial, colorful, and simple. It SHOWS you how to do something, which lessens language barriers (but does not eliminate them). There are no page numbers. Items are listed numerically in the index and then numerically through the book, so it's easy to find your item of knowing. (There is also an alphabetical index in the back of the book.)

Catagories are - How to:
1) MAKE-(items 1-53) The first section includes how to hang a tire swing, decorate (Easter) eggs, shape and string clay beads, make and use a voodoo doll, write with invisible ink, build a pvc-pipe didgeridoo, set up a tropical (plant) terrarium, grow rock candy, etc.
2) EAT- (items 54-101) Full of useful information, this section includes instructions on how to open a pomegranate, crack a coconut, carve a radish rose, shuck an oyster, recognize beef and pork cuts, grill a beer-can chicken, carve a turkey, fold tortellini, weave a lattice-top pie, etc.
3) DRINK- (items 102-135) This section includes how to serve various wines and pair with certain foods (assuming you want to serve the right food with the right wine). It describes how to mix sangria, how to layer a pousse-café, how to mix various drinks (Singapore Sling, etc.), how to brew proper hot tea, how to understand espresso drink ratios, and how to chug from a boot (blah), etc.
4) STYLE- (items 136-186) A lot of grooming stuff--for guys, it explains men's fabric patters, suits for each season, how the suit should fit/look on you (e.g. where pants should end), facial hair styles, how to spike a Mohawk, how to tie a traditional Windsor knot in a tie. For the ladies, making certain hairstyles (e.g. weaving a French braid or braiding cornrows), applying daily makeup, applying traditional geisha makeup, what to use on stains, etc. We also have some special makeup styles for Halloween parties (zombie, fairy, alien, artificial aging)
5) LOVE- (items 187-218) Ahhhh, LOVE! Reading your date's body language, how to give a foot rub, tie a cherry stem in your mouth, dance the salsa, use emoticons and verticons (computer symbols), name gemstone cuts, make a henna pattern, make a bouquet and boutonniere, make your home romantic, etc.
6) NEST- (items 219-261) Some pretty useful stuff in this chapter, such as using colors in the home, patching a hole in drywall, remove old wallpaper, hang new wallpaper, prep and paint, build a loft bed, hang a shelf, make the perfect bed, make a lamp, retrieve something from a drain, clean with natural ingredients, smudging, using feng shui, curtain basics, making the ultimate tree house, etc.
7) GROW- (items 262-311) Delves into how to repot a houseplant, prune a rosebush, plant bulbs at the right depths, make a suet snack for birds, set up a beekeeping station, build an aunt farm (ewwww), determine a turtle's gender (hmmmm), clip a cat's claws, brush a dog's teeth, deflea herbally, massage a colicky baby, etc.
8) THRIVE- (items 312-367) This section includes some golf stuff (navigate the course, select the right club, perfect the swing), understanding vitamins, heal with acupressure points, some first aid (beesting, splinter, nosebleed, remove object from eye, and several pages more), how to meditate, do yoga, some other sports information, etc.
9) GO- (items 368-415) How to pack for travel, choose a seat on a plane, stay limber on the plane, use a hookah, use bike hand signals, tie basic sailing knots, jump start a car battery, mount an elephant, etc.
10) SURVIVE- (items 416-454) (Ew[...] I will survive at the local diner, thank you very much. But, if you must go out there and play macho man/lady . . .) Roast a tarantula; prepare tasty snake meat; treat a snake bite; keep mosquitoes at bay; escape from a choke hold; orient myself by the north star; treat a case of hypothermia, etc. (seriously, some good stuff here-but I ain't eatin' no spider!)
11) WOW- (items 455-500) shoot a stealthy spitball (Ewww); read music; tie a cigarette in a knot; make crop circles; pull a tablecloth from a set table; give the illusion of levitation, etc.

A book you can have lots of fun with. Simplistic, so if you want in-depth knowledge, you can get the basic here and go elsewhere for the detail. Pretty nifty--lots of info--well, let's say there is truly something for everybody here. There is some "dumb" stuff in here but there is a heck of a lot of really useful info too--definitely a welcome addition to my library.

Before beginning this review I decided to go through the book once more to find some examples of it's accuracy and to find examples of more exotic how-to's. I spent a good hour leafing through and rediscovering things in the cleverest how-to encyclopedia I've seen.

The book is organized into 11 sections ranging from Make to Love to Go to Wow. Each set of instructions consist of 5 or more graphic illustrations which are supplemented with written clarifications as needed. They are, for the most part, easy to follow (just don't try #48 and expect it to be correct; in a knit stitch the working thread should be behind the needles). But, if you would like to know how to open a pomegranate (I love them and never knew how to open them successfully. I'd dig out what I could and trash the rest. Happily, no longer!) or crack a coconut (wish I had this book a few months ago as I tried to introduce my 4 year old to the tropical fruit and milk), or boil an egg, use chopsticks . . . I can now accurately identify men's facial hairstyles and can tease up a beehive. How-to #178: "Lace my shoes with flair" leaves much to be desired as it merely shows examples of lacing styles and not how to achieve the looks. But do rely on #222 when you wish to remove old wallpaper and on #226 when you wish to prep and paint a room.

I could continue for some time but I will stop here and offer this: There are some things in this book that are so outrageous you will (or should) never do them like breathing fire #493. There are other things for which you will reach for this book like twisting a balloon dog #35 or mixing refreshing sangria #115 or repotting a houseplant #263 or innumerable other things that are useful to know. There's a handy stain removal chart that I will definitely use. And there is something of interest for everyone from the college guy #131 and #132 and #135 for starters (open a beer with another beer, open beer with a lighter, chug from a boot) to the lovelorn (there's a whole section on Love) to the adventurer and all between. It's cute and clever and truly informative. Sit it out on the coffee table for your guests to peruse (there will definitely be interest) and for easy access for yourself.

With its bright orange cover, Show Me How practically demands to be picked up and examined. Once drawn into its pages, I think most readers will have a hard time putting it down. Bright and colorful, with a pleasing design, Show Me How is the kind of book that leads to hours of browsing and fantasizing. It's literally filled with hundreds of ideas of fun or educational (or both) things to do and learn. There is relatively little text in this book, most of the information is presented in graphic form, so even people who don't care for reading will be able to enjoy and learn from this book. The general subject headings are: Make, Eat, Drink, Style, Love, Nest, Grow, Thrive, Go, Survive, and Wow (a sort of catch-all category that has suggestions for the most unusual activities). Within these categories are basic lessons for a wide variety of activities from how to pair wines with food to how to make a rug out of plastic bags, to choosing the best seat on an airplane, to (my personal favorite) escaping from a straitjacket. Many of the instructions in Show Me How are quite practical and can be put to immediate use, like how to brew tea fit for a queen. Most of them will require that an interested reader seek out more information and practice, like hanging wallpaper. A few of them are more for entertainment purposes, like sliding into a bootlegger turn. And some of them are things most people are never going to want to have to do, like surviving a shipwreck. Published by Collins Design, an imprint of Harper Collins, this book has a great look and a catchy hook, it's great fun to leaf through. You can learn a lot from Show Me How, but know your limits and seek professional advice and help for things like treating a snake bite.

I received this book for review, and just loved it! This book has visual instructions on how to do "500 things". The book is divided into sections such as "nest", "style", "drink", etc. There really is something in here for everyone.

I love the fun modern looking graphics. Most of the instructions are based mostly on the graphics, with a little bit of text to augment the illustrations. So for people who don't enjoy actually reading (like my husband), they really enjoy just browsing through this book.

What surprised me the most about this book is how funny it is. The integration of the written/visual instruction in this book can be quite hilarious. One example that was funny to me was from "#9 Sew a Spooky Voodoo Doll"...there is an illustration of a hand holding up a yearbook with a photo circled in red ink, and underneath the text reads... "Pick an Enemy". So simple, but really funny to read and consider.

I put this book out on my coffee table when we had some people over, and everyone picked it up and looked at it, and laughed, and talked about it. It was a real conversation starter.

I love the variety of topics covered....from directions on how to "carve a hollow book" to "fill with secret items", to making various drinks, knowing how to pair wine with certain meats, popping a "sweet wheelie"..... it is all in here.

This would make a really fun gift for a gender neutral gift exchange type of thing. It is both useful, and funny! If I want to turn myself into a zombie for halloween, pick a pin-and-tumbler lock, or tie basic sailing knots I know where to go!

The Good:

*Great looking pictures and illustrations.
*Greatly organized.
*Great way to pass the time, as it pulls you in.

The Bad:

*Some errors.

The Bottom Line:

A fun to read book, probably because of it's randomness factor. One minute you learn how to brush your pet's teeth and the next minute you read how to escape from a straitjacket. Also covers daily and weekly topics, such as how to cook a sizzling steak ore how to uncork a champagne bottle. I'm not sure if you'd necessarily pass this book along to your kids, unless you don't mind them learning how to flirt or how to mix a nice pitcher of sangria. I did find one picture error and there could be more. They show you how to identify bathrooms in other countries and one of them had signs in Russian. I am fluent in Russian and while they did get the women's bathroom wording correctly, for men's bathroom it says "people" instead of "men," which did give me a slight chuckle. I'm not sure if there are any other errors, but you should definitely take this book lightly and not seriously. For example, they tell you that to fend off a shark, you can either poke a shark in the eye or insert your hands in shark's gills. No offense, but I'd probably be panicky to even go along with that plan if it would to ever happen! However, this is a great thing to learn a thing or two and pass the time.

This book fits into an odd reference category -- one that you might not seek out, but be glad to stumble over. "Show Me How: 500 Things You Should Know / Instructions for Life From the Everyday to the Exotic" is intentionally an eclectic selection, covering everything from "how to tie a bow tie" to "how to use chopsticks" to "understanding emoticons" to "how to hang wallpaper seamlessly" to "how to dig a snow cave." There are several sections: Make, Eat, Drink, Style, Love, Nest, Grow, Thrive, Go, Survive, Wow.

The book is incredibly accessible, with each tip/technique on a single page and presented entirely in graphical drawings. Imagine what the "international symbols" would look like for the 10 steps in "fix a car's flat tire." In most cases, the instructions are very clear. I haven't found anything wrong, at least in the topics I know.

This is entertaining and educational stuff. While I doubt anyone will sit down and read the book cover to cover, it's bathroom reading at its finest. (Imagine: You emerge from the john and tell your spouse knowingly, "I can now organize our living room using feng shui" or "Honey, let me weave your hair into a French braid. I know how." Your spouse admires you. Life is sweet.)

Well, it's certainly not the manual for life, but it does have quite a large selection of different step-by-step graphical instructions. The illustrations are clear and consistent throughout the book, and it's a lot of fun to sit around and flip through. I can imagine it might be helpful for the more visual learners among us, and maybe younger folk as well. There are a good number of funny little additions throughout that boost its entertainment value.

The illustrations are particularly nicely detailed, especially when the color and texture detail is important, and the massive amount of graphics must have been quite an undertaking. It's a nice inspiration for infographics techniques as well, which I thought was kind of cool, gave me some ideas on how to portray visual information in an attractive but simple way.

All-in-all, it's a fun book, good conversation piece, and is nicely designed and put together.

This artful book would make a good birthday or Christmas present. Instructions are simple and practical, typically presented in 5-10 cartoon panels (colorized via computer). This is a serious how-to book; the humor lies only in the eclectic choice of topics (create a chain mail bikini, build an erupting volcano, create yarn hair extensions, set up a beekeeping station, prepare tasty snake meat). More broadly, the categories cover topics such as cooking, arts and crafts, home decoration, choosing clothes, survival skills, etc. I'm not sure how useful this book will prove to be over time- like most of you, if I want to figure out how to do something, I just do a google search; the odds of this book having the answer to any specific question are slim. But that's besides the point really. It's best to think of this as an excellent coffee table book casually scanned now and then to answer some questions you might not have thought to ask.

I read the negative reviews and they're all accurate, but if you choose this book then you're not really looking for serious information and if you are then you should know better than to buy something like this.

5 stars because every page I flip to is thoroughly entertaining. The graphics are fun and clear. Nothing is longer than 10 steps. I like letting the book fall open where it will and then discovering something that I never would have thought of trying.

I think of this book as more of a giant list of suggestions that you can go investigate further if the topic really interests you. Of course you can't learn how to dance the waltz or breathe fire from a 320 page book that includes 498 other instructions! It IS kind of a joke - IT'S FOR FUN. So just relax and enjoy it :)

Personal favourites of mine: #36. how to grow rock candy; #308. how to banish imaginary monsters (from a child's bedroom); #477. how to make crop circles

I love the diversity of this book. It explains how to do a variety of tasks and projects, from using chopsticks and making sushi to stopping bleeding and delivering a baby in a taxi cab.

Some of the tasks described are useful, even essential: how to jump start a car battery or choose the best seat on an airplane.

Some are just fun: how to cast hand puppets or get out of a car in a miniskirt

Some are for your fantasy life or your what-if scenarios: how to create water in the desert or wrestle an alligator.

All are described clearly and concisely, with illustrations and text.

Though a tad heavy to carry around for everyday use, it's a fun read. And who knows? You may need to prepare a tea leaf reading or lace your shoes with flair any day.

Others have described what this book is and how it works, and it is indeed a clever concept, well-executed.

What I like best about it is the wry sense of humor it displays throughout, both in its selection of "how-tos" and its penetrating insights into human eccentricities and foibles.

One of its techniques is what I call "creative cross-referencing." For example, in the how-to on making bowls out of old phonograph records, as it demonstrates the controlled meltdown in the oven, it cross-references treatment of first degree burns, covered in another part of the book.

The book is great for adults, kids, and could be a good tool to use with people with certain disabilities.

Like many people of the so-called internet generation, I have a pretty short attention span. This is fine when I have hundreds of cable channels to choose from, and thousands of MP3s to shuffle through on my iPod. But it's really done a number on my ability to learn useful skills. That kind of thing usually requires putting in some serious time. But with this book, I can learn anything from how to install a dimmer switch to how to exfoliate properly, usually in just a few simple steps. Sure, a little more depth could be useful in some of these how-tos, and sometimes the instructions are a little obvious (if humorous), but overall the concept works pretty well. The awesome illustrations keep things from getting too dry; it's an attractive, entertaining package that makes you actually want to try to do some of this stuff. Especially "intrigue with a game of footsie." Now there's something I can commit to.

This book is chocked full of information and "how to's", some practical, some humorous. Using as few words as possible and many pictures, step-by-step instructions are laid out on a huge assortment of tasks. Instructions really do range from practical (e.g. how to peel & devein shrimp) to crazy (e.g. how to hug a hedgehog).

Obviously, with minimal words the instructions are sketchy. A little amount of information is provided about a lot of things. It's a very fun book to look through, though. I think this book makes a fantastic coffee table book or a great housewarming gift.

Some of these procedures and drawings are quite witty and funny.. a few might even be useful... but is a book really necessary? IIRC, these pages were laid out in Adobe Illustrator, and to be honest, this is another case of a book that should be a blog. In fact, that's almost what ShowMeNow-dot-com, the book's promotional Web site, is doing. This isn't a "revolutionary reimagining of the reference genre" nor is it an "indispensable real-life resource." It's cute, and graphic artists may want to pick it up for inspiration, but, as I've said, this is another case of something being produced in the wrong medium.

This book should be required in every household in America! I just can't seem to put it down.

Everything you ever wanted to know is in this book! Subjects range from simple tasks like tying a tie to amazingly extravagant tasks like how to deliver a baby in a taxi!

Some other of my favorites in the book:
How to make a memorable first kiss
How to do couples yoga
How to dance the tango
How to pair a wine
How to ski/snowboard
How to tie a cherry stem in you mouth
How to fix a flat tire on a bike with a five dollar bill!

Many more that I can't fit here...

You will never find another book like this one. It will be the perfect gift for anyone! I am giving a copy to everyone on my holiday list!

I was walking around my local (big box) bookstore and I asked a salesperson about what I should get for my 15 year old nephew. She did not hesitate at all and walked me over to her "new favorite book." She explained that once this book arrived the employees immediately stole a copy for the break room. I flipped through it and bought myself two copies, one for him and one for my coffee table. Flipping through this book there seemed to be a tip for everything. And, in four days I have already used it twice. Once to finally learn to hem a pair of jeans, and after seeing how easy there tip on dissecting a pomegranate looked I went out and got one... incredible! This book is full of great step by step instructions from the usefully to the absurd.

I haven't actually bought this book, but after reading about it and reading the reviews, I think it will be joining my collection very soon! Books providing 'instructions for life' aren't usually my thing, but this is a unique and quirky take on the genre, something which anyone looking to self-improve can appreciate. I love having a project to work on, and this looks like a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to picking up some new life skills, both ordinary and exotic, with the use of this book.

(The reviewer was compensated for posting this review. However, the opinion stated in the review is that of the reviewer and the reviewer alone. Further, the reviewer independently selected this product to review and has no affiliation with the product maker/distributor, the store or the review requester.)

I've had some difficulty connecting with my kids in the past. Unless it's X-Box this or Playstation that, they don't seem to have any interest in anything. We do things as a family, but I always feel like they look at family time as their way of paying rent. My youngest is 5 and obsessed with spys, and secret agent-type stuff. The weekend we got the book, he and I spent it making book safes and writing secret messages with "invisible ink." My daughter is 17 and (I don't know how I got so lucky) loves all things retro. I swear, she's the only one who isn't embarrassed of me when I talk about the '70s. We made some bowls for her room out of a couple records we picked up at a thrift store, and a disco ball from a CD she cut into pieces. I love being able to go into their rooms and see them NOT glued to one screen or another.

I haven't actually bought this book, but after reading about it and reading the reviews, I think it will be joining my collection very soon! Books providing 'instructions for life' aren't usually my thing, but this is a unique and quirky take on the genre, something which anyone looking to self-improve can appreciate. I love having a project to work on, and this looks like a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to picking up some new life skills, both ordinary and exotic, with the use of this book.

(The reviewer was compensated for posting this review. However, the opinion stated in the review is that of the reviewer and the reviewer alone. Further, the reviewer independently selected this product to review and has no affiliation with the product maker/distributor, the store or the review requester.)

I've had some difficulty connecting with my kids in the past. Unless it's X-Box this or Playstation that, they don't seem to have any interest in anything. We do things as a family, but I always feel like they look at family time as their way of paying rent. My youngest is 5 and obsessed with spys, and secret agent-type stuff. The weekend we got the book, he and I spent it making book safes and writing secret messages with "invisible ink." My daughter is 17 and (I don't know how I got so lucky) loves all things retro. I swear, she's the only one who isn't embarrassed of me when I talk about the '70s. We made some bowls for her room out of a couple records we picked up at a thrift store, and a disco ball from a CD she cut into pieces. I love being able to go into their rooms and see them NOT glued to one screen or another.

This book is terrific. Pouring over all of the ideas and pictures is time well spent. Do you know how to pick up a ground hog? Or make a disco ball out of CDs? This book shows you how and so much more. Wonderful fun and a useful guide.