Whad'Ya Knowledge

William Morrow & Co, 1993. First Edition. Hardcover. Very GoodVery Good. More than 130 public radio stations carry Michael Feldman's hilarious comed y quiz show, which opens with the rallying cry "Whad'ya know?" The audience answers, "Not much!" And they mean it. To help rectify this woeful state, Feldman, whose humor is tart and clever, tricky and impertinent, has compil ed a thoroughly enjoyable volume of quirky facts to help his fans become, i f not genuinely knowledgeable, at least able to pass as pundits at parties. The book's categories are the same as the show's: people, places, things y ou should have learned in school (if you had been paying attention), scienc e, and odds and ends. For example: "Under legislation pending in Boise, not returning library books could get you: (a) six months in jail; (b) a year in jail; (c) fourteen years in jail. The answer: (c); and if you don't retu rn books to the prison library, they make you spend fourteen years in Boise .