THE GUINESS BOOK OF RECORDS edited...

THE GUINESS BOOK OF RECORDS edited by Peter Matthews (Bantam: $6.99; 819 pp., illustrated, paperback original). The 1994 edition of the famous reference book contains a great deal of useful information about the fastest, tallest, biggest, etc. Unfortunately, the serious aspects of the volume have been overshadowed by its sillier contents: The world’s largest cookie (34 feet in diameter) contained almost 4 million chocolate chips; the largest cocktail included 1,650 gallons of rum, triple sec, sour mix, orange juice and grenadine. Even more depressing are the lists of dim-bulb stunts people stage to get into the book--jumping on pogo sticks, threading needles, balancing milk crates, etc.