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Useful Book

 Useful Book
type
FeatureClass
 Useful Book
label
Useful Book
 Useful Book
page
UsefulBook
 Useful Book
comment
A standard visual gag almost always Played for Laughs.
Alice is looking for something. Maybe it's a new outlook on life, help with a homework problem, or maybe just her pen. Bob hands her a book, or suggests a book he doesn't have with him, and suggests she shouldn't take too long to finish with it, and before she can thank him or object, he's out the door.
Cut to Alice suddenly realizing the book in question is a Doorstopper — and Bob expects her to finish in half an hour. It might be a religious text, a very wordy legal document, a dictionary, an obscure scientific (or arcane magic) textbook, the phone book, a catalog with no index, possibly even a Tome of Eldritch Lore or Great Big Book of Everything — anything that normally would take longer than an hour or so to read through.
Later, it's revealed that Bob actually gave her the book:
To stand on to reach something.
To sit on, because the chairs are too low.
To put under her computer monitor.
To use its pages as toilet paper.
To prop open a door.
To use as a projectile.
For use as a Pocket Protector.
To give her what's inside it
Or some other purpose other than to read it.
For more book-themed humor, see:
As the Good Book Says...
Book and Switch
Book Safe
Bookcase Passage
Bookworm
Doorstopper
Portal Book
Throw the Book at Them
Compare It May Help You on Your Quest, Magic Feather, and Pocket Protector, where other objects are used for purposes other than for what the audience may have been led to expect. Contrast "Reading Is Cool" Aesop.
 Useful Book
fetched
2023-10-22T22:31:41Z
 Useful Book
parsed
2023-10-22T22:31:41Z
 Useful Book
processingComment
Dropped link to Doorstopper: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Useful Book
processingComment
Dropped link to PoorMansPorn: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Useful Book
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Useful Book / int_1e994b1
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_1e994b1
comment
In Ricochet, the villain asks for a large bible from the prison reading cart ... to use as a prop to force his shattered knee back into alignment.
 Useful Book / int_1e994b1
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_1e994b1
featureConfidence
1.0
 Ricochet
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_1e994b1
 Useful Book / int_261c8d3f
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_261c8d3f
comment
In The Simpsons episode "Dumbbell Indemnity", Homer in prison finds a book from Hans Moleman titled "How To Tunnel Out Of Prison". He says it could be useful...and promptly hits Moleman with it allowing him to escape.
 Useful Book / int_261c8d3f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_261c8d3f
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Simpsons
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_261c8d3f
 Useful Book / int_2a54016d
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_2a54016d
comment
Skyler goes to the bookshelf looking for Hulkleberry Finn and can't find it. He asks Uncle Cosmo, who informs him it's under "Furniture". Skyler asks, "Why would Huck Finn be under 'Furniture?'" "Because it's just the right thickness," Cosmo says as he retrieves the book from under an unsteady chair leg.
 Useful Book / int_2a54016d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_2a54016d
featureConfidence
1.0
 TheAdventuresOfHuckleberryFinn
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_2a54016d
 Useful Book / int_2bbcacd9
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_2bbcacd9
comment
In the Looney Tunes short "Mouse Wreckers", Claude Cat is being driven insane by the mice Hubie and Bertie. Looking up a book on mental diseases, he finds "the very page I've been looking for". He tears it off to make a Napoleon hat.
 Useful Book / int_2bbcacd9
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_2bbcacd9
featureConfidence
1.0
 Looney Tunes
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_2bbcacd9
 Useful Book / int_30cf38e0
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_30cf38e0
comment
In Evil Dead 2, Ash uses Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms to weigh down his possessed, amputated, killer hand. Give it a second...
 Useful Book / int_30cf38e0
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_30cf38e0
featureConfidence
1.0
 Evil Dead 2
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_30cf38e0
 Useful Book / int_3256c625
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_3256c625
comment
In Mirrormask, books are used as food for sphinxes (as they love to eat the pages, and get distracted by a good book) and to fly on (they return to the library when insulted and thrown with great force). There's also the Really Useful Book, which dispenses good advice but becomes this trope when, in a Heroic Sacrifice, it suggests that Helena tear out its pages to feed a pack of hungry sphinxes closing in on her.
 Useful Book / int_3256c625
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_3256c625
featureConfidence
1.0
 MirrorMask
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_3256c625
 Useful Book / int_355f992
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_355f992
comment
In The Shawshank Redemption: Andy hides his rock hammer in a cut-out shape inside the Bible he keeps in his prison cell, in the book of Exodus to be exact.
 Useful Book / int_355f992
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_355f992
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Shawshank Redemption
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_355f992
 Useful Book / int_3b34143f
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_3b34143f
comment
In Harry Potter, Professor Flitwick, who is very short, frequently sits or stands on top of books so he can see the whole classroom. Though being a Hogwarts professor, he definitely uses books for their intended purpose as well.
 Useful Book / int_3b34143f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_3b34143f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Harry Potter
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_3b34143f
 Useful Book / int_3defe34c
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_3defe34c
comment
Discussed Trope by one book reviewer:
 Useful Book / int_3defe34c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_3defe34c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Discussed Trope
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_3defe34c
 Useful Book / int_3f92a0e
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_3f92a0e
comment
In Wagons East!, a man goes into a bookstore and asks for "a big damn book". The proprietor offers a copy of Pride and Prejudice. The man tears several pages out and makes for the outhouse.
 Useful Book / int_3f92a0e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_3f92a0e
featureConfidence
1.0
 Wagons East!
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_3f92a0e
 Useful Book / int_4118c4f1
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_4118c4f1
comment
In Treasure Island, the pirates tear a page from the Bible to serve Long John Silver with the Black Spot, believing his mutiny has brought bad luck on their voyage. Silver turns this around by pointing out that clearly God Is Displeased with them for desecrating the Holy Scriptures.
 Useful Book / int_4118c4f1
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_4118c4f1
featureConfidence
1.0
 Treasure Island
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_4118c4f1
 Useful Book / int_44e0b783
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_44e0b783
comment
Garfield: Several times, Garfield has used books for purposes other than reading, such as:
June 21, 1986: Garfield stands on a book to reach the cookie jar.
June 11, 1987, June 5, 1988, and more: To swat a spider.
March 31, 1988: Unable to sleep, he smacks himself on the head with a book to try and knock himself out.
March 6, 1991: "Look, Odie, a dog with its nose smashed between the pages of a book!"
October 3, 1994: "Books are very important. I'm sitting on one to get a better view of the T.V."
August 30, 2008, and May 15, 2015, both have Garfield using a book to hide that he's eating behind it.
June 2, 2012: "Ah, Alice in Wonderland. A timeless classic. That should keep the table from wobbling."
 Useful Book / int_44e0b783
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_44e0b783
featureConfidence
1.0
 Garfield (Comic Strip)
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_44e0b783
 Useful Book / int_455ede40
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_455ede40
comment
In Super Paper Mario, you get a clue in a scroll to find an old treasure. Alas, toilet paper for Fleep.
 Useful Book / int_455ede40
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_455ede40
featureConfidence
1.0
 Super Paper Mario (Video Game)
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_455ede40
 Useful Book / int_468bebb0
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_468bebb0
comment
Discworld
Brother Oats does this in Carpe Jugulum. He consults his holy book for advice while he and Granny Weatherwax are freezing to death in a downpour and unable to find any kindling, and finds the passage "Where there is darkness, we will make a great light." That gives him an idea for how to warm themselves up...
Also, the Doorstopper book How to Kille Insects. The easiest way to Kille Insects would be to use the book itself, although since it's done significant damage to a humanoid, that might be overkill.
Cohen the Barbarian can't read very well, but he thinks a book is always valuable equipment, especially one with thin pages.
 Useful Book / int_468bebb0
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_468bebb0
featureConfidence
1.0
 Discworld
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_468bebb0
 Useful Book / int_4b790c7a
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_4b790c7a
comment
In Iron Man 2, Phil Coulson uncovers a partially completed red, white and blue shield with a star in the center. Tony exclaims "that's perfect! Just what I need!" and then uses it to prop up the Particle Accelerator he is working on. "Perfectly level," he says, pleased afterward. It should be noted that there are multiple actual books also being used to prop up the particle accelerator. (As well as several of his cars, a motorcycle, and pretty much everything else in his lab.)
 Useful Book / int_4b790c7a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_4b790c7a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Iron Man 2
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_4b790c7a
 Useful Book / int_5ab01893
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_5ab01893
comment
Cream Heroes: Claire builds a paper wall for her cats to play with but the gap beneath it is large enough for them to crawl through. Cue Claire's books being piled underneath to block there way with the subtitle "The true purpose of books.
 Useful Book / int_5ab01893
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_5ab01893
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cream Heroes (Web Video)
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_5ab01893
 Useful Book / int_6add31e6
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_6add31e6
comment
In the Hancock's Half Hour TV episode "The Missing Page", a librarian is impressed when Hancock asks for some weighty intellectual tomes, only to discover that Hancock just wants to stand on the books so he can reach a sleazy crime thriller on the top shelf.
 Useful Book / int_6add31e6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_6add31e6
featureConfidence
1.0
 Hancock's Half Hour (Radio)
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_6add31e6
 Useful Book / int_7777a79c
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_7777a79c
comment
In The Day After Tomorrow, characters are stranded in the New York Public Library by a life-threatening winter storm. A debate breaks out on the morality of burning rare books as fuel to keep warm and stay alive. It is cut short when someone points out they could just burn the books in the Tax Law section instead.
 Useful Book / int_7777a79c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_7777a79c
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Day After Tomorrow
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_7777a79c
 Useful Book / int_7f5ca69e
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_7f5ca69e
comment
The Daily Derp: Done with a movie DVD case instead of a book. Derpy uses it to prop up a table leg. "I need another copy for my sofa."
 Useful Book / int_7f5ca69e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_7f5ca69e
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Daily Derp (Webcomic)
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_7f5ca69e
 Useful Book / int_7fc53da4
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_7fc53da4
comment
The Magic School Bus: Ralphie asks D.A. if he can borrow her new physics book. She does not appreciate finding out he used it to replace the missing first base. Never treat a bookworm's book like a piece of baseball equipment!
 Useful Book / int_7fc53da4
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_7fc53da4
featureConfidence
1.0
 TheMagicSchoolBus
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_7fc53da4
 Useful Book / int_8aa7c509
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_8aa7c509
comment
In the Star vs. the Forces of Evil episode "Starsitting", Buff-Frog enlists Marco and Star in looking after his dozen baby tadpoles, and gives them a large scrapbook containing info such as his kids' schedules and sleeping habits. Hilarity Ensues, especially when the kids' legs come in (something not covered in the book, to the horror of by-the-book babysitter Marco) and they run around the house causing a ruckus. Star and Marco eventually find another use for the book... for setting off a field of bear-traps standing between them and the youngest, Katrina, when it's almost time for Buff-Frog to pick the kids up.
 Useful Book / int_8aa7c509
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_8aa7c509
featureConfidence
1.0
 Star vs. the Forces of Evil
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_8aa7c509
 Useful Book / int_8ad6e76f
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_8ad6e76f
comment
Brother Oats does this in Carpe Jugulum. He consults his holy book for advice while he and Granny Weatherwax are freezing to death in a downpour and unable to find any kindling, and finds the passage "Where there is darkness, we will make a great light." That gives him an idea for how to warm themselves up...
 Useful Book / int_8ad6e76f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_8ad6e76f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Carpe Jugulum
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_8ad6e76f
 Useful Book / int_976be7c3
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_976be7c3
comment
Averted in The Recruit. James and Kerry find a copy of the Complete Works of Shakespeare in the pack they're expected to carry through a tropical jungle. Naturally they throw it away to save weight, only to later realise that they were supposed to keep at least part of it for use as toilet paper.
 Useful Book / int_976be7c3
featureApplicability
-1.0
 Useful Book / int_976be7c3
featureConfidence
1.0
 CHERUB Series
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_976be7c3
 Useful Book / int_9992c8b0
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_9992c8b0
comment
Dennis the Menace (US): "But it is a 'good book'... to stand on!"
 Useful Book / int_9992c8b0
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_9992c8b0
featureConfidence
1.0
 Dennis the Menace (US) (Comic Strip)
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_9992c8b0
 Useful Book / int_a9f06cb6
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_a9f06cb6
comment
A VeggieTales music video of "A Modern Major General" has Archibald Asparagus singing the song and constructing a staircase of tomes in time with his singing.
 Useful Book / int_a9f06cb6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_a9f06cb6
featureConfidence
1.0
 VeggieTales
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_a9f06cb6
 Useful Book / int_abfcff6a
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_abfcff6a
comment
A Bullwinkle's Corner segment, "The Children's Hour", has Bullwinkle reading a book of the same name ("It's a very useful book!") while babysitting three young hellions. He uses the book to spank them.
 Useful Book / int_abfcff6a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_abfcff6a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Rocky and Bullwinkle
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_abfcff6a
 Useful Book / int_b3933a70
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_b3933a70
comment
In Home Improvement, Jill mentions that she gave Tim a copy of The Feminine Mystique, but that he uses it to prop up his workbench. Subverted later on, though, when Tim reveals that he did read it (he mis-refers to it as The Feminine Mistake, but the point still stands).
 Useful Book / int_b3933a70
featureApplicability
-0.3
 Useful Book / int_b3933a70
featureConfidence
1.0
 Home Improvement
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_b3933a70
 Useful Book / int_b40513b1
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_b40513b1
comment
Foxtrot
Paige asks to borrow one of Andy's favorite books. Andy is excited and happy until Paige returns with the book two seconds later, explaining that she just needed it to kill a spider.
A similar comic had her remarking on Peter borrowing a bunch of books like the encyclopedia set and dictionary; it turns out he was just changing a light bulb.
 Useful Book / int_b40513b1
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_b40513b1
featureConfidence
1.0
 FoxTrot (Comic Strip)
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_b40513b1
 Useful Book / int_b60c14c
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_b60c14c
comment
In Without a Clue, a clue requires a Bible. Sherlock Holmes exclaims "I have a Bible!" and runs and gets it out from under one of the legs of his bed.
 Useful Book / int_b60c14c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_b60c14c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Without a Clue
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_b60c14c
 Useful Book / int_b8b251cc
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_b8b251cc
comment
Shoe:
In an early strip, Skyler uses a Camper's Guide to start a fire. Literally.
Skyler goes to the bookshelf looking for Hulkleberry Finn and can't find it. He asks Uncle Cosmo, who informs him it's under "Furniture". Skyler asks, "Why would Huck Finn be under 'Furniture?'" "Because it's just the right thickness," Cosmo says as he retrieves the book from under an unsteady chair leg.
 Useful Book / int_b8b251cc
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_b8b251cc
featureConfidence
1.0
 Shoe (Comic Strip)
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_b8b251cc
 Useful Book / int_b8b584cf
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_b8b584cf
comment
In Zits, Pierce's favourite book in the school library is Atlas Shrugged, which he uses as a pillow.
 Useful Book / int_b8b584cf
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_b8b584cf
featureConfidence
1.0
 Zits (Comic Strip)
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_b8b584cf
 Useful Book / int_bd3b42ed
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_bd3b42ed
comment
The Wizard of Id. Someone urgently tells a lawyer to come with him and bring his law books. So they can use them to stand on to look over a wall at what's implied to be women bathing.
 Useful Book / int_bd3b42ed
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_bd3b42ed
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Wizard of Id (Comic Strip)
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_bd3b42ed
 Useful Book / int_bfd7c6e0
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_bfd7c6e0
comment
Done in a Drowtales parody.
 Useful Book / int_bfd7c6e0
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_bfd7c6e0
featureConfidence
1.0
 Drowtales (Webcomic)
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_bfd7c6e0
 Useful Book / int_c0f8022c
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_c0f8022c
comment
One episode of Disney's Hercules: The Animated Series used this both ways. A professor told Herc to beat an opponent with a scroll, so Herc threw it at the guy hard enough to win. At the end of the episode they run to the library and while the professor evaluates the scrolls on the basis of their weight Herc looks up the opponent's weakness.
 Useful Book / int_c0f8022c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_c0f8022c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Hercules: The Animated Series
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_c0f8022c
 Useful Book / int_c2ef4b61
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_c2ef4b61
comment
In one Brawl in the Family comic, Waluigi takes out a large book from the library, only to eat it in the last panel. (It's the seventh one on the page.)
 Useful Book / int_c2ef4b61
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_c2ef4b61
featureConfidence
1.0
 Brawl in the Family (Webcomic)
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_c2ef4b61
 Useful Book / int_c93c0985
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_c93c0985
comment
In one The Broons strip, Maw is horrified by her family's table manners (mostly complaining about the wobbly table with their mouths full), and gives them an etiquette book. Paw quickly realises that this could solve their problem; the wobbly table.
 Useful Book / int_c93c0985
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_c93c0985
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Broons (Comic Strip)
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_c93c0985
 Useful Book / int_ca5d97f1
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_ca5d97f1
comment
From Monty Python's Flying Circus:
 Useful Book / int_ca5d97f1
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_ca5d97f1
featureConfidence
1.0
 Monty Python's Flying Circus
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_ca5d97f1
 Useful Book / int_d4efb984
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_d4efb984
comment
In The Golden Girls, Dorothy befriends a local novelist. Sophia mentions a book she wrote and says she goes to bed with it every night. When Blanche asks what it's about, Sophia says she doesn't have a clue, she uses it to keep her bed level.
 Useful Book / int_d4efb984
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_d4efb984
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Golden Girls
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_d4efb984
 Useful Book / int_eef5470a
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_eef5470a
comment
In Rurouni Kenshin, Kenshin uses a stack of books as a comfortable place to sleep.
 Useful Book / int_eef5470a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_eef5470a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Rurouni Kenshin (Manga)
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_eef5470a
 Useful Book / int_fd49dcff
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_fd49dcff
comment
In Die Another Day, Q gives James Bond the Doorstopper manual of his new car. Bond throws the book in front of the car, triggering the shotguns under the hood which promptly shoot it to confetti.
 Useful Book / int_fd49dcff
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_fd49dcff
featureConfidence
1.0
 Die Another Day
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_fd49dcff
 Useful Book / int_fe16b92c
type
Useful Book
 Useful Book / int_fe16b92c
comment
In Season 7 episode 36 of Happy Heroes, the school students use the school magazines for basically everything besides actually reading them. Lightbulb Jr. uses them as fuel for a fire, another student makes a hula skirt out of the shredded pages, and Little M. thinks the pages make good toilet paper.
 Useful Book / int_fe16b92c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Useful Book / int_fe16b92c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Happy Heroes (Animation)
hasFeature
Useful Book / int_fe16b92c

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Useful Book
processingCategory2
Bookish Tropes
 Useful Book
processingCategory2
Comedy Tropes
 Happy Heroes (Animation) / int_8a23f244
type
Useful Book
 FoxTrot (Comic Strip) / int_8a23f244
type
Useful Book
 Old Man Henderson (Fanfic) / int_8a23f244
type
Useful Book
 Die Another Day / int_8a23f244
type
Useful Book
 Iron Man 2 / int_8a23f244
type
Useful Book
 The Day After Tomorrow / int_8a23f244
type
Useful Book
 The Shawshank Redemption / int_8a23f244
type
Useful Book
 Wagons East! / int_8a23f244
type
Useful Book
 Without a Clue / int_8a23f244
type
Useful Book
 CHERUB Series / int_8a23f244
type
Useful Book
 BookWorm
seeAlso
Useful Book
 DoorStopper
seeAlso
Useful Book
 Vangers (Video Game) / int_8a23f244
type
Useful Book
 Classic Game Room (Web Video) / int_8a23f244
type
Useful Book
 Disney High School (Webcomic) / int_8a23f244
type
Useful Book
 Ghastly's Ghastly Comic (Webcomic) / int_8a23f244
type
Useful Book