If you were stranded on deserted island and could only have 1 book, what would it be?

[TexasJack]

Catch-22 for me

[Piscivore]

U.S. Army Field Manual, No. 21-76

[quixotecoyote]

Piscivore makes a strong choice, but I'm going have to with, "The Idiot's Guide to building a boat out of coconuts."

[Pauliesonne]

The Bible.

:D

[Fnord]

"Bushcraft - A Serious Guide To Survival And Camping", by Richard H. Graves (Warner Books, First Printing 1978).

The Bible doesn't teach as much about survival on a desert island. Now the important question: Ginger or Mary Ann?

;)

[Tiktaalik]

A book of matches.

[Piscivore]

Now the important question: Ginger or Mary Ann?

;)

"Or"?

Ginger [Rule X] Mary Ann's [Rule X] while Mary Ann is [Rule X] her [Rule X] with a [Rule X] made out of bamboo, Mrs. Howell slapping both of them with fish while the Professor plays with her [Rule X] like the knob on the cocoanut radio, The Skipper and Mr. Howell tied up in gimp suits made out of palm fronds and forced to watch, while Gilligan is lying decapitated in a shallow grave in the jungle so his asinine antics don't f[Rule X] the whole thing up, as would be his wont.

[Magenta]

I was going to say something like The Dummies Guide to Small Boat Construction but Quixotecoyote beat me to it. Instead, I'll go with Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy on the grounds that by the time I got to the end I would have forgotten the beginning and could start again.

[Travis]

"Or"?

Ginger [Rule X] Mary Ann's [Rule X] while Mary Ann is [Rule X] her [Rule X] with a [Rule X] made out of bamboo, Mrs. Howell slapping both of them with fish while the Professor plays with her [Rule X] like the knob on the cocoanut radio, The Skipper and Mr. Howell tied up in gimp suits made out of palm fronds and forced to watch, while Gilligan is lying decapitated in a shallow grave in the jungle so his asinine antics don't f[Rule X] the whole thing up, as would be his wont.

At the risk of [rule 11] I agree.

Furthermore I would totally [rule 1] Ginger while [rule 10] Mary Ann is forced to watch. More info about what I would do includes [rule 4] [rule 2] while not [rule 10] at all! This might also include [rule 9] and [rule 2] which you can find out about at this site .. [rule 3].

Posters here I might [rule 10] include [rule 8] and of course [rule 8] who I'd [rule 2] all night long, unless they object in which case I might just [rule 5] them!

[rule 6]

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[rule 6]

In order to comprehend post please consult the forum rules here (http://www.randi.org/joom/content/view/136/87%20/).

[Normal Dude]

Any Ayn Rand book would do. This would allow me to sum up the courage to do myself in, rather than have to read her writing one more time.

[Piscivore]

At the risk of [rule 11] I agree.

Furthermore I would totally [rule 1] Ginger while [rule 10] Mary Ann is forced to watch. More info about what I would do includes [rule 4] [rule 2] while not [rule 10] at all! This might also include [rule 9] and [rule 2] which you can find out about at this site .. [rule 3].

Posters here I might [rule 10] include [rule 8] and of course [rule 8] who I'd [rule 2] all night long, unless they object in which case I might just [rule 5] them!

[rule 6]

[rule 6]

[rule 6]

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In order to comprehend post please consult the forum rules here (http://www.randi.org/joom/content/view/136/87%20/).

:th:

[Alt+F4]

Now the important question: Ginger or Mary Ann?

;)

Hey now, there are a lot of Mrs. Howell fans out there! Older women have life experience. :clap:

I'd take the book that explains how the Professor was able to make a lie detector out of a couple of coconuts.

[bjornart]

The Junior Woodchucks Guidebook (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Junior_Woodchucks_Guidebook)

[CptColumbo]

An iBook with all my books uploaded into it.

In the spirit of what Texas jack intended: I would probably want 'Salems Lot by Stephen King (It's the book I've probably read the most) or the Complete Works of William Shakespeare.

[brodski]

An iBook with all my books uploaded into it.

In the spirit of what Texas jack intended: I would probably want 'Salems Lot by Stephen King (It's the book I've probably read the most) or the Complete Works of William Shakespeare.

Well, as I understand it, every time one is stranded on a desert island, one is automatically furnished with both the Complete Works of Shakespeare and a copy of the Authorised Version of the Bible, but which 8 records will you be taking? ;)

[CptColumbo]

Well, as I understand it, every time one is stranded on a desert island, one is automatically furnished with both the Complete Works of Shakespeare and a copy of the Authorised Version of the Bible, but which 8 records will you be taking? ;)I just need my iPod. No one has mentioned a lack of outlets to plug things into or batteries, so I assume power will be available.

[orpheus]

Finnegans Wake

Because it's literally endless (as well as magnificent and always big fun).

[Finnegan]

(Gets painful jokes like a rubber inflatable book or Playboy Annual out of the way)

The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare, Ulysses or The Authorative Calvin And Hobbes. It's hard to choose between them.

[MarkCorrigan]

The bumper inflatable boat book/how to build oars out of sand special. Ricky Gervais said something similar I believe.

Now, if I'm being serious in the way the OP is aiming, probably either Thud! by Terry Pratchett, or The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks.

Both hilarious, both I could read again and again.

[I Ratant]

U.S. Army Field Manual, No. 21-76
>
Me too!
The Boy Scouts Field Manual doesn't go far enough! :)

[Fitter]

Finnegans Wake

Because it's literally endless (as well as magnificent and always big fun).
My choice also, however if we got stranded together I hope one of has either Dubliners or Ulysses.

[CptColumbo]

Finnegans Wake

Because it's literally endless (as well as magnificent and always big fun).
It might be more appropriate to have Gilligan's Wake.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilligan%27s_Wake

[X]

This (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Build-Intelligent-Amateur-Radio-Transceiver/dp/0070282641)

[Morrigan]

A Dance With Dragons.


:( :( :(

[Tricky]

It wouldn't matter so much, as long as the librarian was cute.

[Damien Evans]

The Lord of The Rings, or The Australian Official History Of World War Two.

[Marquis de Carabas]

The novelisation of Sorority Sluts XIV.

Or maybe SS XV. Damn. Tough call.

[brodski]

A Dance With Dragons.


:( :( :(

I take it that you're not planning on being shipwrecked any time soon then... :(

[AStone]

Moby Dick, which may be a bit masochistic.

[Ove]

"The complete guide to things you can eat, -and things that'll kill you" :D

[hipparchia]

Moby Dick, which may be a bit masochistic.

Seconded, though disagree with the masochistic part. I want a book that is complex, rich, irreverent, philosophical. All in one in Moby-Dick. I'm not even a native speaker of English and I loved it.

It would come in handy should a whale wash on the shore of the island. It's got a recipe for cooking it right. Wouldn't want to do it wrong...

[LibraryLady]

It wouldn't matter so much, as long as the librarian was cute.

And this is why I want to be stranded with Tricky.

Or the Complete Works of Lewis Carroll.

[Complexity]

Complete works of Shakespeare.

He really is the best.

[Wolfman]

"A Complete Illustrated History of Playboy"

Naw, its not what you're thinking...its got really good articles ;)

[Gravy]

The Compleat Angler. :)

[Hokulele]

If it is somewhere off the coast of the continental US, Stalking the Blue-Eyed Scallop (http://www.amazon.com/Stalking-Blue-Eyed-Scallop-Euell-Gibbons/dp/0911469052) by Euell Gibbons.

[fromdownunder]

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (the BOOK, not the book).

Norm

[Skullaxide]

Reputable encyclopedia please.

[Dogdoctor]

I would want Websters Unabridged Dictionary just because it is big and has more pages to make fires with or use as toilet paper etc.

[Damien Evans]

The Compleat Angler. :)

An excellent choice.

[RobRoy]

As some of my choices have already been suggested (Shakespeare and Tolkien), I will go with The Wheel of Time, or Cornwell's Saxon Series providing the caveat that I am not marooned until I have either's complete series.

[Darth Rotor]

The Encyclopedia Britannica. It has a lot of volumes, but it's a book. :)

[leonAzul]

If it is somewhere off the coast of the continental US, Stalking the Blue-Eyed Scallop (http://www.amazon.com/Stalking-Blue-Eyed-Scallop-Euell-Gibbons/dp/0911469052) by Euell Gibbons.

You'll be wanting the Field Guide Edition, of course.

I'd prefer his Handbook of Edible Wild Plants.

[Piscivore]

If it is somewhere off the coast of the continental US, Stalking the Blue-Eyed Scallop (http://www.amazon.com/Stalking-Blue-Eyed-Scallop-Euell-Gibbons/dp/0911469052) by Euell Gibbons.

I used to have that, until it got too depressing to look at- what with living in AZ and all.

[Bob Blaylock]

A MacBook Pro.

[Gilmar]

This came up in a "Frazz" comic strip; one character said "The collected works of Isaac Asimov, large-print edition", and another said something like "No fair, you'll use it as a raft".

[Corpse Cruncher]

The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald or a cook book.

[Skullaxide]

A MacBook Pro.

I would agree, but I'd rather have no MacBook Pro than a MacBook Pro lacking internet. Unless it had something equally if not more incredible on it that you're not telling us about.

[Foolmewunz]

The DC Madam's little black book.

(That way O'Reilly and FoxNews would launch multi-million dollar expeditions to find me.)

[Diamond]

I'd like the Encyclopedia Britannica to read but a printed out version of Wikipedia to use for toilet paper would be just brilliant.

As an alternative read, the complete set of the Richard Feynman Lectures would be fabulous.

[RebeccaBradley]

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, by Charles Mackay. Partly because it would make me feel a whole lot better about being stranded on a desert island.