Description

About the Author

Ken Jennings broke game show records in 2004 with his unprecedented seventy-four game, $2.52 million victory streak on Jeopardy!. Jennings’s book Brainiac, about his Jeopardy! adventures, was a critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller, as was his follow-up, Maphead. He is also the author of Ken Jennings’s Trivia Almanac. Jennings lives in Washington with his wife Mindy, his son Dylan and daughter Caitlin, and a deeply unstable Labrador retriever named Banjo.

Praise for Because I Said So!: The Truth Behind the Myths, Tales, and Warnings Every Generation Passes Down to Its Kids…

"Because I Said So! is the MythBusters of old wives' tales. But beware: it could be a dangerous book if it falls into the wrong hands; namely your kids'. All of us can look back on the cautionary admonitions our parents and grandparents used to shout at us when we were in the middle of fun, and now our suspicions that they were hokum are verified! But we have to keep this to ourselves. If our kids get a hold of this book, we'll have nothing left to kill their joy with. So buy this book, read it, and then hide it away!"
-Ken Denmead, New York Times bestselling author of Geek Dad

“A fun, lighthearted compendium of conventional wisdom, mostly parental, which debunks plenty of old wives’ tales and urban myths while offering a few surprising truths…. ‘Occasionally Mom knew what she was talking about,’ as this clever book confirms, but often she did not.”

"With his trademark with and genius. . . . Jennings imparts wisdom and good sense in this highly entertaining and oddly educational book."

"Sets aside esoterica in favor of the received wisdom of American parenting. . . . Jennings maintains his humor and warmth, keeping everything on the level of friendly, well-researched advice from the dad down the street who, by the by, would totally own your ass on trivia night at the neighborhood pub. Because I Said So! is breezy and illuminating, a mix that would be more volatile in less capable hands."

“Because I Said So! is a treasure trove of quality information, debunkery, and thoughtful common sense, as Jennings makes like the MythBusters and puts these classic cliches to the test. Informative, enthusiastic, and very very funny, Because I Said So! deftly mixes an occasional personal anecdote with plenty of verifiable scientific data to confirm or discredit numerous childhood warnings. (He’s even fair enough to rank the level of truth inherent in each particular warning.)”