When I arrived in Switzerland in early May, I found that I had forgotten to pack my journal, so on my first day there I went to a lovely book shop in the charming city of Zug, and bought a regular Moleskine notebook at the most astronomical price. Of course I had to glance over the English book section too, and when I saw Why Do the Swiss Have Such Great Sex?, I had to buy it.

Now, I didn't know that the Swiss had such great sex, but it really didn't surprise me -- after all, look at their surrounding influences: the healthy body awareness of the Germans, the romance of the French, and the sexy swoon-worthiness of the Italians. But when I picked up my daughter at work and showed her, she just laughed and said the Swiss were famous for being prudes. Hmmm.

Anyway, Why Do the Swiss Have Such Great Sex? asks 66 questions about life in Switzerland and takes two to four pages to explore the answer. The answers seem well researched, usually have a twist to them, and are often somewhat humorous. The questions range from fascinating to 'who cares?' but I found something valuable or interesting in almost all of them.

Here are two examples:

Q. How Much Rubble Was Excavated Digging the World's Longest Tunnel? And Where Is It Now?
A. Enough to fill freight cars in a train stretching from Zurich to Kathmandu. The rubble went to make the bed of the tunnel, and to make the concrete to line it. The rest went to shore up water areas that had been damaged by flooding.

Q. Could a Tsunami Strike Switzerland?
A. I thought this was a dumb question, but actually it wasn't. Yes, tsunamis happen in Switzerland. In 563 a landslide at the east end of Lake Geneva caused a massive wave that went over the walls of Geneva, and earthquake set one off in Lake Geneva again in 1584, and Lucerne was hit in 1601 and 1681. In 1806 a tsunami killled 500 people on Lake Laurerz. Not such a dumb question, actually.

Overall, a fun read.

Recommended for: trivia buffs, people who want to learn more about Switzerland ( )