Ripley's Believe It or Not!: Special Edition

When I was young, the local paper had a short "Believe It Or Not" section in every edition. It was one of my favorite items that I read religiously every day. This book is a colorful, eye-catching continuance of that tradition. Using action photographs, colorful drawings and explanatory text, many of the amazing events Ripley is known for are demonstrated and explained. It is one of those books that you can leave on the card table and it will provide entertainment for all guests, independent of their interests.

A long time reader and buyer of Ripley,in fact ever since his first book;but I must say I was not impressed with this effort.I got the impression it was just pumped out from a stack of old files and maybe items that didn't make the grade before.Ripley,himself,was what made Believe It or Not what it was.He was a bigger than life personality and today there is nobody taking his place at Ripley's.This book reminds me of the numerous others that did take-offs of Ripley,and never came close to the master.Maybe if the resources were spent on creating a world reknown traveller,explorer of the unbeaten track;who could put the imagination back into the cartoons ,rather than trying to get by on marketing and graphics;we would get the quality product that made Believe It or Not what it was.This book appears to be something cranked out with minimal effort and imagination for the kids market.When Ripley was around his cartoons had appeal for all ages. I really believe a replacement for Ripley himself,who is a character himself,with widespread recognition,often appearing as a guest on talk shows,is what is needed to put new life and personality back into the cartoons.File,research,marketing,art and graphics departments just don't do the job. The daily cartoons in some newspapers and on the web site drawn by a John Graziano are an attempt to produce the cartoons;but who is he? One never had to ask who Ripley was,every knew who he was and he was as recognizable as Babe Ruth or the President of the United States.A long time tradion of Ripley was to show the name and town of people who submitted items.It seems he was much more involved personally with his fans than the unrecognizable "staff" we have today.I believe Ripley would have considered it only a common courtesy to recognize his contributors.Any long time fan knows how much people,mail and fans meant to him. See my other reviews on Believe It or Not books dated 13 Jan 2004 and 19 Jan 2005.

I LOVE THE MUSEUMS AND THE BOOK. I'M WAITING TO SEE IF THERE'LL BE A 2005 BOOK.MUCH OF THIS BOOK IS PRETTY CREEPY AND COOL AT THE SAME TIME.FOR SOME STUFF, I DON'T SEE HOW THEY COULD DO IT. I'VE ALSO HEARD THERE'S A MUSEUM IN TENNESSEE, TOO. IF YOU HAVEN'T BEEN TO ANY, GO TO ONE. YOU WILL, WITHOUT A DOUBT, BE AMAZED.

Ripley's Believe It or Not is a great bok. It contains many interesting facts, which will leave you in shock and disbelief. I thought Ripley's Believe It or Not was awesome. I had a lot of fun reading the book and I learned many amazing facts. Based on the T.V hit show, Ripley's Believe It or Not is mind-boggeling. Many people think that it is the same as Guiness Book of Records, but it is not. Ripley's Believe It or Not tells you amazing facts and you decide whether it is true or not. None of the facts in Ripley's are in the Guiness Book of Records.