Mental Floss by Mangesh Hattikudur

Mental Floss by Mangesh Hattikudur

Friends? Romans? Countrymen?

You never know whom you'll have to impress

at your next corporate shindig or keg party.

Whatever the target audience, mental_floss knows staring facedown into the punch bowl isn't the trick. In fact, that's exactly why we're handing you Cocktail Party Cheat Sheets--a totally effective, foolproof guide to starting and sustaining conversations on every topic under the sun. Want to wax wise about barbarians, socialist theory, and jazz musicians? What about Keynesian economics, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and James Joyce's Ulysses? Well, it's all right here in front of you.

We've jam-packed this book with jaw-dropping facts and hysterical anecdotes that are sure to please. So go ahead and stock up for your next soiree. We're not guaranteeing it will make you the most knowledgeable person in the room . . . just the most interesting.

Will Pearson and Mangesh Hattikudur met at Duke University as first-year students. Despite the temptations of law school and investment banking, the two co-founded mental_floss and have been smiling ever since. Maggie Koerth-Baker is a freelance journalist and former assistant editor at mental_floss magazine, where she dazzled Will and Mangesh with her brilliance.