Author Larry Olmsted examines the history of the world’s most famous record book as well as why getting into Guinness is so alluring and gratifying. By Steve Weinberg

EVER SINCE childhood, frequent American Way contributor Larry Olmsted has found Guinness World Records fascinating. He’s not the only one. Since its initial publication in 1955, the book, regularly revised, has sold more than 100 million copies in dozens of languages. A writing assignment to document his own record-setting attempt only fueled Olmsted’s curiosity, and in 2003, heset out to examine the book’s history, the fascination surrounding it, and the people who risk life and limb to get into its pages. What resulted is his new work, Getting into Guinness: One Man’s Longest, Fastest, Highest Journey inside the World’s Most Famous Record Book (HarperCollins, $25).

What led you to write Getting into Guinness?
I was astonished to discover that Guinness World Recordsis the best-selling copyrighted book of all time, that it started as a fluke, and that it was published by Guinness Brewery. I thought if I was surprised, other people would be as well.

What did you discover about the book’s origins?
Sir Hugh Beaver, born in South Africa in 1890, helped engineer a brewery on the outskirts of London for Arthur Guinness & Sons, the world’s largest brewer during the 1930s. While on a hunting trip in 1951, he posed the question, Which bird is faster: the golden plover or the grouse? When Beaver couldn’t find the answer in encyclopedias, he announced that it was about time somebody produced a book full of records to settle this kind of dispute. He also saw it as a branding opportunity for the brewery. Beaver hired twin brothers Ross and Norris McWhirter, who were reputed researchers, to turn the idea into reality.

Did the venture catch on quickly?
Within a few months, it had turned into a serious business, and the unexpected success quickly led the Guinness executives to expand into the largerand more lucrative U.S. market.

Tellus about Ashrita Furman, the man with the most Guinness World Records(200 and counting), whom you’ve spent some time with.
He exemplifies the adage “Truth is stranger than fiction.” If Ashrita did not exist, the marketing folks at Guinness would have had to invent him. Many of his feats are beyond astonishing. Ashrita has structured his entire life around breaking and setting Guinness World Records, and this enthusiasm has taken him to all corners of the globe.

You open the book talking about your quest to gain entry into Guinness as a marathon poker player. What did you take away from that experience?
After 70 hours without sleep, with eight hours remaining to set the record, I was experiencing hallucinations of the mirage-in-the desert variety. I opened with that because it begs the questions, What drove me to that point? What madness compelled me to risk my health?

What possessed you to try setting records yourself?
It was a gimmick at first, and at that time, I had never considered a book. My first assignment, for Golf Magazine, was to see if I could golf my way into Guinnessalongside Tiger Woods. What I learned afterward is that the book has aglorifying effect on its record holders. My record got me on TV andinto the newspapers. It offers otherwise unknowns like me theopportunity to achieve a glimmer of so-called greatness and join theranks of elite athletes, scientists, world leaders, explorers, andadventurers.