One of my favorite books when I was about 10 years ago,was "Believe it or Not!" by Ripley.It was a hardcover of 172 pages and an utter delight to me,living in a small town,well before the age of TV.This fascinating and yes,,unbelievable stuff opened up the wonders of the world. Later on, we got Ripley's cartoons in the papers,and in the early 50's a long string of paperbacks.Believe it or Not!;they sold for 25 cents.
Ripley's has continued to entertain and amaze us right up to the present time.This latest book ,like those of the past,is once again excellent.Now that Ripley's is on TV,you would think that books are out of date. Not so,the stuff on TV is the sort of thing that is enhanched by sound and motion.Books still do an excellent job of covering most stories.The daily cartoon in the papers has not been available where I live for several years.However;that is not a problem,as Ripley's website carries it and has archives available as well.
The item in this book that was most interesting to me was about Bryan Berg, the amazing cardstacker shown on pages 70 and 71.I had the wonderful opportunity to watch him build these amazing structures at the Canadian National Exhibition here in Toronto in 2005.Even these pictures hardly do him justice. He has constructed the Empite State Building ,25 feet high and using a ladder. He also constructs a structure ,a couple of levels high.Then he places a plywood panel on top;and gets a baseball team and its coach to stand on top. Believe It or Not!;It doesn't collapse. If interested,Bryan has written a book,"Stacking the Deck" and shows the basis methods used in building these structures. It's a lot of fun,even if you only attempt simple buildings;but the sky is the limit.
Once again another great Ripley book.Not only is the material excellent;the paper,construction,printing and color is excellent as well.
