What Are Hyenas Laugh

The eighth in Feldman's Imponderables series (When Do Fish Sleep?, etc.), this volume collects questions submitted by readers, each credited individually, ranging through fields of human and animal endeavor. We learn the answer to the eponymous query (hyenas don't laugh), why leather is expensive (if we ate more beef, it wouldn't be), what the difference is between a roll and a bun (none; it's a matter of arbitrary local definition) and how the product Grecian Formula knows what color to dye your hair (it doesn't). Annoyingly, the Imponderables are presented helter-skelter without organization according to subject-matter, e.g., clothing, utensils, etc. Most fun are the chapters on Frustrables, the most frustrating imponderables: Why don't women spit more? Why do dogs tilt their heads when you talk to them? 50,000 first printing; author tour. (Oct.)