In these days of the internet, few secrets are still very secret, but this collection of obscure knowledge was still pretty interesting. My favorite parts were the detailed investigations into questions without clear answers, specifically the historical recipes for things like Coca-Cola and perfumes. The funniest bit was the revelation that chemical analysis revealed that rather than 11 secret herbs and spices KFC fried chicken was spiced with salt, pepper, and no measurable quantities of any other spices.
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This book does a better than expected job of delivering on its promise to let you in on some big secrets, such as secret ingredients of Coke and so on. Fun to read. ( )

Various secrets are revealed - like what Roschach blots are supposed to mean, the formula for KFC, hidden song lyrics, and was Walt Disney really frozen? This 1983 book seems a bit dated. ( )

Big Secrets (1983), Bigger Secrets (1989), and Biggest Secrets (1994) are a trilogy of books written by William Poundstone. The tagline for the series is "the uncensored truth about all sorts of stuff you are never supposed to know."

I purchased the book of Big Secrets primarily for the contents of Part Five, Chapters 19-23, about magic and psychics.

• Chapter 19. David Copperfield's Dancing Handkerchief in a Bottle
• Chapter 20. Harry Blackstone, Jr.'s Sawing a Woman in Two
• Chapter 21. Uri Geller's Blindfold Drive
• Chapter 22. Doug Henning's Vanishing Horse and Rider
• Chapter 23. The Amazing Kreskin's Social Security Number

I have a love-hate relationship with books like Poundstone's. As an amateur magician, I love to be in the know about magic tricks and illusions, especially the closely guarded ones as performed by such celebrities as Copperfield, Blackstone, Jr., Geller, Henning, and Kreskin. On the other hand, I hate it when someone writes an exposé of magic tricks or illusions for the general public, thus ruining their effect for everyone else.

If you are not a magician or an aspiring magician, please do not read Chapters 19-23 in this book. Doing so will destroy the entertainment value of these tricks forever after.

On the other hand, as soon as you think you know how a magician ticks, he tocks. There are more elusive methods for performing some of these effects than Poundstone reveals. ( )