The Experts Speak: The Definitive Compendium of Authoritative Misinformation (Revised Edition)

by Victor S. Navasky and Christopher Cerf

Book Overview

Did you ever have the uneasy feeling the experts
are not . . . well, expert?

"Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau."
--Irving Fisher, professor of economics at Yale University, October 17, 1929

"Forget it, Louis, no Civil War picture ever made a nickel."
--Irving Thalberg's warning to Louis B. Mayer regarding Gone With the Wind

"We don't like their sound. Groups of guitars are on the way out."
--Decca...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679778063
• ISBN13: 9780679778066
• Release Date: July 1998
• Publisher: Villard Books
• Length: 480 Pages
• Weight: 1.57 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.2" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Very funny.

Great book - very funny. It is fascinating (and very educational) to see how wrong people can be. I will never believe in the word impossible again!

I have two copies it's so good!!!

Hello, This book is a great book. I have two copies of ¡§The Experts Speak.¡¨ I have one at my house for reference and then another in my classroom (I teach economics, sociology, and psychology) and that¡¦s for reference too. The book is full of quotes both famous and not from ¡§experts¡¨ both famous and not, who have made predictions, and relayed facts and/or opinions that we later see to be simply wrong. The book itself is funny and interesting. Funny, to see how wrong man-kind has been in the past, and interesting to see how we¡¦ve been wrong, but also on speculating how much we are wrong about now and what the future generations will look back and laugh at our current ¡§experts¡¨ for. The book is broad and this should be mentioned at there are sections on religion, science, inventions, music, war, gender, medicine, and so on¡K so there really is something for everyone! Lastly, I am not making fun of official experts here, I think they are doing the best they can and I would trust an expert who spends all their time studying a field and is subject to peer review by the other brightest minds of their generation before I trusted myself or someone else. What I am finding amusing is the pride we sometimes have at thinking we really have THE answers now, and in the past ¡§they¡¨ were so dumb, and we are so enlightened ƒº Finally, I hope you like my review and vote nicely for it! Thanks and have a good time shopping. Sam Kochel

Perfect gift for the hard-to-buy-for

This has become such a hit in our family that everyone wants one. Well written, extremely entertaining, and easy reference for looking up a specific topic. Several copies will be under our Christmas tree!

Shows how easy one's foot fits in one's own mouth!

Awesome list of some of the most ignorant statements made by some of the most "important" people in recent history.I found it rather satisfying to know that even the "SMART" people in this world are just as "DUMB" as the rest of us from time to time.Read this book and you will probably think a little harder before you make any quick comments about things you aren't educated about.You will find some of the most outrageous comments ever made by people who are supposed to "know what they are talking about"Not only is it good to know everyone speaks too soon once in awhile, this book is so good it will also have you laughing and perhaps wondering how these "people" got into the high social position they did.Who knows perhaps anyone can be a big wheel if we're in the right place at the right time!!

The best (and funniest) antidote to punditry in the universe

This highly quotable and humorous--but accurately researched--book fills an important gap. It provides a unique window on history by demonstrating the uncertainty principle of so-called factualness. Using laughably fatheaded predictions from the ages as well as from just a few weeks ago, the authors show how profoundly wrong the "experts" are during any given moment. During the present bombardment of expert opinion from every direction, this book is especially valuable. You will never again be able to listen to the talking heads or read the newspaper in quite the same way after consulting even a single page of Cerf and Navasky! An excellent reference book, cautionary guide for any authority in any field, and a fine teaching text as well. I predict this book will be the biggest seller in the universe from now until the end of time. Buy it for your great-great-great grandchildren at the present low price.