History Main / ButIReadABookAboutIt

* Scriber Jaqueramaphan from ''{{A Fire Upon The Deep}}'' by VernorVinge is all about this trope; he also tends to be pretty incompetent in most of the things he's read about.
** Terrifying the hell out of his friend when they're about to sneak through the army of a feared warlord. Scriber is a spy, and is therefore assumed by the others to know what he's doing.

* In ''HarryPotter'', [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/HarryPotterMinistryOfMagic Dolores Umbridge]] states that just having a theoretical basis in Defense Against the Dark Arts should be enough to prepare the students to successfully take their exams. (In a subversion, though, the ''real'' reason for the dumbed-down, book-taught Defense Against the Dark Arts class is to ensure the students ''don't'' have any practical knowledge.)
** Hermione gets a few of these in ''HarryPotter''.

* In the first ''ShortCircuit'' movie, Number 5 reads the entire encyclopedia before his adventures. The next day he reads the manual for Stephanie's van immediately before driving it.

* In ''{{Noir}}'', the ActionGirl Kirika reads a book on making tea and henceforth enjoys it to no end. Which is kinda cute, once you consider that making tea is the only thing she can do well besides killing people, and the only thing she ever learned on her own.

* In the ''{{Discworld}}'' novel ''Discworld/{{Wintersmith}}'', Roland believes that he will be an expert swordsman because he has read the fencing manuals and fought many imaginary swordfights in his mind.

** I cannot help but be reminded of [[GrowingUpCullen Growing Up]] [[http://oxymoronassoc.livejournal.com/462027.html Cullen]].

* In ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Wesley bragged that in the new Watcher training, he had even taken on two vampires "under controlled circumstances, of course". Giles quickly countered that he wouldn't encounter those in [[CityOfAdventure Sunnydale]]... controlled circumstances, that is.

* [[TheBigBangTheory Sheldon Cooper]] attempted to learn to swim on the internet. And to rock climb.

* This is actually a knack in ''{{Scion}}''. Basically means that the Scion has read so much about stuff they can try them even if they have no training.
* The Factotum class (dungeonscape) in ''DungeonsAndDragons'' has this as it's premise. As a result it's class skills are "All", even obscure class specific ones are treated as class skills for a factotum.

* Parodied in ''FamilyGuy'':

* ''MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', "Fall Weather Friends": Grade-A bookworm Twilight Sparkle enters a big marathon, the Running of the Leaves, alongside her more athletic friends Applejack and Rainbow Dash. The two of them scoff when Twilight claims she's read a book on running techniques in preparation for the race, but in the end she manages a respectable fifth place from pacing herself, while Applejack and Rainbow Dash end up tied for dead last because the two of them were too preoccupied with making sure the other doesn't win.

* ''{{Eyeshield 21}}'': The Amino Cyborgs team do only a middling amount of training, and spend more time getting juiced up and reading books on how to play football. This leaves them with low stamina when they play the Devil Bats.

* In the first ''ShortCircuit'' movie, Number 5 reads the entire encyclopedia before his adventures. The next day he reads the manual for Stephanie's van immediately before driving it.

This trope is the literary equivalent of IKnowMortalKombat and TaughtByTelevision -- that is, the character in question gets his knowledge by reading about it. Unlike those tropes, however, it's at least plausible for a person to actually be competent when he has to apply his book knowledge in RealLife.

* ''{{Eyeshield 21}}'': The Amino Cyborgs team spent most of their training time getting juiced up and reading books on how to play football. This leaves them with low stamina when they play the Devil Bats.

* In ''HarryPotter'', [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/HarryPotter Dolores Umbridge]] states that just having a theoretical basis in Defense Against the Dark Arts should be enough to prepare the students to successfully take their exams. (In a subversion, though, the ''real'' reason for the dumbed-down, book-taught Defense Against the Dark Arts class is to ensure the students ''don't'' have any practical knowledge.)

* Parodied with Dave in ''FlightOfTheConchords'', who acts like an expert in all things, especially being a ladies' man. Judging by his tendency toward {{Malapropisms}} and the way he (deniedly) lives with his parents...
* ''XFiles'': "I play ''{{Dungeons and Dragons}}''. I know a thing or two about courage"
* [[TheBigBangTheory Sheldon Cooper]] attempted to learn to swim on the internet. And to rock climb.
** He's actually pretty good at the climbing. It's when he looks down that it all goes wrong.

* Subverted in ''FamilyGuy'', for a CrowningMomentOfFunny.

* In the first ''ShortCircuit'' movie, Number 5 reads the entire encyclopedia before his adventures. The next day he reads the manual for Stephanie's van immediately before driving it. (Though the manual for a motor vehicle [[WallBanger usually concentrates on routine maintenance and service, not how to drive]])

* [[{{Twilight}} Edward Cullen]]. While the rest of his family was having housebreaking sex, he was by his lonesome spending his sleepless nights studying everything there is to study. For example, he cooks perfect meals for Bella on his first try, despite never having a reason to cook before.

* ''BattleRoyale'' uses this for two of [[{{Badass}} Kazuo]] [[TheUnfettered Kiriyama's]] Crowing Moments Of Awesome, both in {{Flashback}}. [[spoiler: The first has him breaking the arms, nose, and jaw of a bunch of bullies, with the explanation that "I simply used the information I learned from this book" * shows a human anatomy text* . The second has a [[SadisticTeacher mean judo coach]] with a penchant for humiliating his students pick Kiriyama, reading a book in back, for the next spar. Kiriyama closes his book with the title facing the reader: "[[OhCrap Introduction to Judo]]" Read on for more :).]]

* Scriber Jaqueramaphan from ''A Fire Upon The Deep'' by VernorVinge is all about this trope; he also tends to be pretty incompetent in most of the things he's read about.

* In ''{{Flight of the Phoenix}}'', one of the characters says he has experience building and designing aircraft. He later reveals he works with model aircraft, but it turns out the principles are much the same, just on a smaller scale.

This trope is the literary equivalent of IKnowMortalKombat and TaughtByTelevision -- that is, the character in question gets his knowledge by reading about it. Unlike those tropes, however, it's not entirely implausible for a person to actually be competent when he has to apply his book knowledge in RealLife.

* ''BattleRoyale'' uses this for two of [[{{Badass}} Kazuo]] [[TheUnfettered Kiriyama's]] CMOAs, both in {{Flashback}}. [[spoiler: The first has him breaking the arms, nose, and jaw of a bunch of bullies, with the explanation that "I simply used the information I learned from this book" * shows a human anatomy text* . The second has a [[SadisticTeacher mean judo coach]] with a penchant for humiliating his students pick Kiriyama, reading a book in back, for the next spar. Kiriyama closes his book with the title facing the reader: "[[OhCrap Introduction to Judo]]" Read on for more :).]]

* In ''HarryPotter'', [[TheUmbridge Dolores Umbridge]] states that just having a theoretical basis in Defense Against the Dark Arts should be enough to prepare the students to successfully take their exams. (In a subversion, though, the ''real'' reason for the dumbed-down, book-taught Defense Against the Dark Arts class is to ensure the students ''don't'' have any practical knowledge.)

* In the film ''Three Days of the Condor'', based on the novel ''Six Days of the Condor'', Joe Turner's job for the CIA is to read books, newspapers, and magazines from around the world, looking for hidden meanings and new ideas. When the CallToAdventure comes to him, he uses his book learning to survive.

* In the ''{{Discworld}}'' novel ''Wintersmith'', Roland believes that he will be an expert swordsman because he has read the fencing manuals and fought many imaginary swordfights in his mind.
** The Rupert in ''Monstrous Regiment'' does the same thing. He actually cuts his own hand practicing out of a book.

* Taken to its logical extreme in FlightOfTheConchords.

* The Factotum class (dungeonscape) in DungeonsAndDragons has this as it's premise. As a result it's class skills are "All", even obscure class specific ones are treated as class skills for a factotum.

* Subverted in FamilyGuy, for a CrowningMomentOfFunny.