Anthropologist George Dorsey said, Play is the beginning of knowledge. Armchair Reader: The Origin of Everything takes this dictum seriously, digging into the origins of hundreds of things people, places, concepts, names even stuff that doesn t exist except in the imagination. Some examples: Kitty litter, and how its invention turned cats from outdoor pets into indoor members of the family The fork, which has suffered through many eras when it was considered low-class (reminiscent of a pitchfork used to feed a horse) or too diabolical (the devil s instrument) The knuckleball, hotpants, FM radio, and Spam Origins in the broader sense, like a long list of real names of the rich and famous Mother s Day, and why its inventor lobbied against its celebration A breakfast cereal that was invented with the aim of inhibiting sexual desireArmchair Reader: The Origin of Everything contains more than 500 pages of carefully researched, eminently readable mini-essays that range from The Secret Origin of Comic Books to America s First Skyscraper. It s an entertaining and informative addition to the wildly popular Armchair Reader series.