Show Me How: The Ultimate How-to Book
A Fresh, Wacky Visual Manual Features "500 Things You Should Know"
Nov 21, 2008
It's intriguing to speculate on where the inspiration originally came from for Show Me How (Collins Design, New York, 2008; ISBN 978-0061662577; 320 pages, softcover, $24.95). One possibility: the cards found in the seat-back pockets of every commercial airplane, which demonstrate in clear, understand-at-a-glance comic-strip form how to fasten an oxygen mask, inflate a life jacket, brace for a crash landing, or slide down an escape chute.
A Formidable Heir to Worst-Case Scenario
Taking that universally understandable design approach, authors Derek Fagerstrom and Lauren Smith, along with a team of 36 subject experts and illustrators, have put together what may be the ultimate how-to book—and is certainly one of the most intriguing, amusing nonfiction titles to come along in a while. Indeed, Show Me How has the subject matter and visual style to catch on in a big way, much like The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook did way back in 1999.
Fans of that book will recall its convenient size and simple black-and-white line-art illustrations accompanying dryly witty text explaining everything from how to survive adrift at sea to how to escape from quicksand, how to wrestle an alligator to how to perform a tracheotomy. Worst-Case seemed the perfect title for a time filled with millennial fears.
By contrast, Show Me How, while it contains some of the same sort of disaster-prone subject matter, seems much more attuned to a time when a rising tide of hope is beginning to counterbalance all the despair in this modern world. Its full-color, fully illustrated approach, in which very few words accompany the five thousand expertly executed images that make up the book's 500 how-to sequences, seems perfectly in step with this computer- and Internet-driven visual age. The jumbo size—a generous 9 by 9 inches and hefty 2.8-pond weight—demands a place of honor on coffee tables or family bookshelves, not to mention exalted gift book status.
A Hopefully Upbeat Outlook and Practical Info
Show Me How's upbeat outlook comes from a preponderance of how-to demos that are all about having fun. Eleven chapters (with concise titles of "make," "eat," "drink," "style," "love," "nest," "grow," "thrive," "go," "survive," and "wow") include sunny-spirited activities as "blow a humongous bubble," "speed-peel a hard-boiled egg," "chug from a boot," "become a glittery fairy," "flirt with emoticons," "make my tree house extra cool," "serve a banana-octopus snack," and "rock out on the musical saw."
But the book also provides practical, useful info galore. Want to learn the basics of knitting? Check out sequences 47, 48, and 49. The eat chapter includes such need-to-knows as "pit an avocado" (56), "carve a turkey" (91), and "weave a lattice-top pie" (101). In "drink," there are 11 separate sequences relating to selecting, serving, and appreciating wine, along with such demos as how to "rim a glass with sugar or salt" (116), "mix a classic martini" (120), and "pull a perfect espresso" (129).
The "style" section's 51 distinct illustrated how-to sequences include "get a clean shave" (141), "apply lipstick like a pro" (160), "tie a bowtie" (176), and "hem a pair of jeans" (181). In "nest," useful information includes "hang wallpaper seamlessly" (221), "install a dimmer switch" (240), "troubleshoot a running toilet" (245), and "sew simple curtains" (255).
Among the "go" chapter's practical highlights are "stay limber on an airplane" (373), "clear water from a scuba mask" (391), "jump-start my car's battery" (399), and "compose a memorable photo" (409). Indeed, each chapter offers up such valuable info capable of making life move along much more smoothly and pleasurably.
Touches of Wackiness—and Even Danger!
Wackiness, however, delightfully counterbalances the practical side of Show Me How. From "prepare tibetan yak-butter tea" (124) to "turn myself into a zombie" (150), "mount an elephant" (407) to "make crop circles" (477), the book offers up a wealth of truly unusual or bizarre how-to strips that will have readers laughing aloud.
There are even 8 out of the 500 how-to demonstrations that the book straightforwardly and very seriously cautions, "no sensible person would ever do." These include "pop a sweet wheelie" (491), "breathe fire" (493), and "be a human cannonball" (496). Nevertheless, it's fun to see, in Show Me How's clear and attractive illustrated style, how such feats are accomplished.
In the end, that's what may make Show Me How such a satisfying delight. Whether or not the reader ever tries to do any of its "500 things you should know," the book satisfies the curiosity of readers (or, more accurately, "lookers" or "voyeurs," since there are so few words), leaving them with a vicarious feeling of accomplishment. No wonder buzz is building and there's already a Show Me How website.
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