by Edward Lucaire
Have you always wondered who Ida Lupino's father was? (Stanley Lupino, a British actor.) Are you curious about what two famous people were born in Steubenville, Ohio in 1917 and are good friends today? (Dean Martin and Jimmy the Greek.) Have you ever wondered if Ho Chi Minh studied cooking under the great chef Escoffier in London in 1914? (He did.) Has the title of the library book that author William Manchester kept so long he had to pay a $505.69 fine slipped your mind? (Six Plays of Clifford Odets.) You get the idea. This book contains utterly random facts about an utterly random choice of famous people, with no documentation offered. It has a certain irresistible potato-chip quality, though, and Lucaire, an ex-adman turned pop author, at least collects his clippings with a nose for the amusing. By the way, did you know that Ryan O'Neal once mailed a live tarantula to Rona Barrett? (Warner Books, $2.75)
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