Then "Inverne's Stage & Screen Trivia" might be just the sort of reference work you're looking for. The compendium of arcane information was recently published by (who else?) Arcane Books. A pocket-size hardcover of 218 pages, it contains every obscure fact a theatre or film fan didn't know he needed to know. The many entries—some a few lines long, some a couple pages, and none in any particular order—include "Some Actors Who Have Played Jesus," as well as lists of actors who have played god, the devil and the president; "Cats Facts"; "Shakespeare on Film"; "The Star Trek Movies and Their French Titles" ("Star Trek, Le Film" is the first); "Terms Used in Variety, Vaudeville, Revue and Panto"; "The Evolution of Bulgarian Theatre"; and "Alfred Hitchcock's Cameos," which tells where in each Hitchcock film you can glimpse the film director.

James Inverne writes about the arts for Time magazine, The London Times and the Financial Times. He is also the London correspondent for Playbill On-Line. His previous books include "Jack Tinker: A Life in Review," "The Impresarios," and "Wrestling With Elephants: The Authorised Biography of Don Black."