History Main / ButIReadABookAboutIt

* Figures into the plot of "Counting Out Time" from the Music/{{Genesis}} album ''Music/TheLambLiesDownOnBroadway''. The main protagonist, Rael, has read a book about erogenous zones, and he thinks that's all he needs to get his date to sleep with him. [[SubvertedTrope However, all he ends up getting is a slap.]]

* Julius Benedict in ''Film/{{Twins}}'' knew all about driving from reading about it, and having read the car's manual, he knew he could shut off the alarm by lifting it up from the back, thereby tricking it into thinking it was being towed. Of course it only worked because of his extraordinary strength.

** This is a large part of Twilight's personality (A common FanNickname is 'Purplesmart Bookhorse'). Between SuperOCD, checklists to track checking her checklists, and apparent access to [[Literature/DiscWorld L-Space]] to be able to find a book on anything anywhere. She has a rule book for a "goof-off", for example with Spike claiming that Twilight has a rule book for everything.

* In ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'', the main reason Platinum went on her journey was to try out first hand the many things she read about. That said, sometimes she initially sucks at whatever she's trying out even when she recites whatever the book told her on the subject, like when she kept falling down when she was on a bike for the first time in her life.

* ''Film/AmericanBeauty''. [[spoiler:The 14-year old isn't the slut as she makes herself out to be.]]

* In ''Film/TheFlightOfThePhoenix1965'', 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.

* Heinrich Dorfmann in ''Literature/TheFlightOfThePhoenix'' instructs the survivors on how to rebuild the crashed plane... even though he's only ever designed model aeroplanes

* In ''Literature/WaxAndWayne'', when Waxillium started his career as a lawman, he was woefully naïve about how life in the Roughs actually worked and based all of his efforts on fictional novels he read about lawmen and outlaws. Lessie, a native to the Roughs is rightfully exasperated by his belief in all of the clichés he takes at face value. Fortunately, he gets TaughtByExperience and shapes up.

--->Hugh: Right now, Sir Peter, you've never flown an aeroplane before?
--->Stephen: Never flown in my life, Johnny, no.
--->Hugh: '''And you've never had any lessons?'''
--->Stephen: Oh I've had lessons, maths, geography ...
--->Hugh: But not in flying?
--->Stephen: No.
--->Hugh: And I've never flown before. Is this something you've always wanted to do?
--->Stephen: Not particularly. So when you rang up I just leapt at the chance.
--->Hugh: Right.

You have a friend, who has never actually done whatever task you need to do, but hey, (s)he has read all about the subject so they are going to attempt it anyway. {{What could possibly go wrong}}... right?

* In ''Series{{House}}'' Season 4, one of the applicants for House's team is Henry Dobson, a doctor in his mid-sixties with an encyclopedic knowledge of medicine rivaling that of House himself. However, House gets suspicious when he notices that Dobson always delegates medical procedures, no matter how trivial, to junior doctors. House eventually discovers why: Dobson is not a real doctor, but rather a Columbia admissions officer who audited 30 years worth of medical school lectures. He could not perform basic procedures because he never got any hands-on experience.

** In ''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.
** The Rupert in ''Discworld/MonstrousRegiment'' does the same thing. He actually cuts his own hand practicing out of a book.

** This is a large part of Twilight's personality (A common FanNickname is 'Purplesmart Bookhorse'). Between SuperOCD, checklists to track checking her checklists, and apparent access to [[Literature/DiscWorld L-Space]] to be able to find a book on anything anywhere. She had a how-to book on slumber parties, in an episode about them, for example.

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

* Pretty much any CRPG will contain skill books for those all important extra skill points.
* In ''VideoGame/DragonBallOnline'', Gohan writes a book called "Groundbreaking Science," which explains the concepts of ki control, helping saiyan hybrids to learn how to fly/shoot ki blasts/etc by reading a book.

* There was a parable in the Eighteenth century about the need for this in a military officer and the fact that street smarts isn't necessarily enough. It goes roughly like this, "There was a mule who served in the army for ten campaigns. At the end it was-a mule."

* Literally the power of the Marvel superhero called GwenPoole. Or at least one of them. She has read many of the comic books starring the characters she is now physically interacting with. She gains a momentary advantage over the current Thor by shouting out her real name.

* ''Series/NewTricks'': Dan Griffin is widely read and has a lot of esoteric knowledge. But this trope really comes into play when he demonstrates mad skills at five-a-side football despite never having seen he match. He explains that when he learned they were going to be playing, he read several books on the subjects and the rest was "basic physics".

* Scriber Jaqueramaphan from ''Literature/AFireUponTheDeep'' by Creator/VernorVinge; 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.

* Yuu from ''Manga/{{Holyland}}'' first learnt boxing from a book.