(1993) How Does Aspirin Find a Headache: An Imponderables Book, By David Feldman, Illustrated by Kassie Schwan. (ISBN: 0060169230 / 0-06-016923-0) 

Book Description: Harpercollins, New York, NY, U.S.A., 1993. Stated First Edition. Number line on copyright page reads (93 94 95 96 97 /RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1), First Printing Thus. Red Hard Cover Boards with Blue Spine With Gold Text. 269 pages, 5.75" x 8.5" tall, 1" thick. As New. Not price clipped. Real nice copy of book and dust jacket.

Book Condition: As New. Pages are clean, very tight & bright. No ink names, tears, chips, foxing etc.

Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. NON price-clipped DJ [$20.00 US].

About This Book: All-New Imponderables book by the author of "Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise?" and "Do Penguins Have Knees?" 

This book is particularly rich with wacky Imponderables (how do people come up with gems like: Are lions really afraid of kitchen chairs? Or will Super Glue stick to Teflon?).

But my fondest recollection about Aspirin was this was the book where I finally got McDonald's to talk to me on the record about some Golden Arches Imponderables, after years of their stonewalling.

Finally, I could answer questions such as: When the sign says "over 95 billion served," they are referring to 95 billion WHAT? Why are McDonald's straws so wide in circumference? And why are the burgers upside-down when you unfold the wrapper of a McDonald's hamburger?

Synopsis: The author of Do Penguins Have Knees? answers such questions as What does Barney Rubble do for a living? Why doesn't glue get stuck in the bottle? and Why do pharmacists work on raised platforms? among others. 75,000 first printing.

About The Author: David Feldman (born 1950) is the author of the Imponderables series of books. He holds a bachelor's degree in literature from Grinnell College, as well as a master's degree in popular culture from Bowling Green State University.

Dave Feldman grew up not in a log cabin, but a tract house in Mar Vista, California. From an abnormally early age, Dave was fascinated by popular culture. He not only loved rock and roll and "Leave It to Beaver," but tried to analyze why and how they were successful commercially and artistically.

Dave had a rather unusual academic life. On the one hand, he was a literature major, with a special interest in heavy Russian writers (e.g., Dostoevsky, Tolstoi, Turgenev), but he was also busy convincing sympathetic professors at Grinnell College (yes, an accredited institution of higher learning) to allow him to undertake independent studies in popular culture (he actually got academic credit for studying what makes sick jokes sick, for compiling a history of rock and roll, and writing about the aesthetics of soap operas).

After winning a Watson Fellowship to study popular culture in Europe, Dave ditched Dostoevsky and went to Bowling Green State University, at that time the only school in the world with a postgraduate degree in popular culture. There, he taught the first-ever college course on soap operas. When he went for the ever-elusive Ph.D at the University of Maryland, the soap opera class became a monster (imagine a teaching assistant with 350 students, a microphone, and a proscenium stage and a bad haircut).

He fled to the Big Apple. Dave consulted for ABC but took a job in the programming department of NBC, where he worked in both daytime and primetime programming. Dave was and is obsessed with television, but wasn't cut out to be a network programmer. Dave saved up his shekels with the intention of embarking on a writing career.

One day, while at the local supermarket, Dave noticed that every cereal seemed to be 110 calories per ounce. Dave couldn't figure out why, for example, Kellogg's Sugar Frosted Flakes, which, after all, is nothing but Kellogg's Corn Flakes with sugar on it, had no more calories than the unsweetened version. A dim metaphorical light bulb shone above Feldman's head.

A few minutes later, at a diner, Dave noticed a distinguished looking gentleman trying to open a four-pack of Nabisco Saltines. Furtively, the man bit open the package with his teeth. If we can put a man on the moon, Feldman wondered, why can't they make a cracker package you can open with your hands? The light bulb flickered once again.

On the way home, the word "Imponderables" popped into DF's head. "Aha," he thought. THIS is a book title. The rest, if not history, has been Dave's work for the last ten years.

Dave lives in New York City. He's single (what woman would have him?) but has many interests besides work to occupy him: tournament duplicate bridge; listening to his massive rock, soul, gospel, folk, and world music collection; searching for good food anywhere; reading; annoying his friends; indulging in all facets of popular culture; and writing autobiographical sketches in the third person.