Book of Lists [Paperback]

David Wallechinsky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 6, 2005

The first and best compendium of facts weirder than fiction, of intriguing information and must-talk-about trivia has spawned many imitators - but none as addictive or successful. For nearly three decades, the editors have been researching curious facts, unusual statistics and the incredible stories behind them. Now, the most entertaining and informative of these have been brought together in a thoroughly up-to-date edition. Published all over the world, and containing lists written specially for each country, this edition has something for everyone.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Impossible to put down." Independent on Sunday; "Imaginatively insane." Sunday Herald; "Packed with more fascinating, trivial, vital and perverse non sequiturs than you can shake an encyclopedia at." New York Times Book Review; "A lot of fun." Wall Street Journal; "Oddly addictive." Sunday Express"

About the Author

David Wallechinsky is the author of numerous books including The Peoples' Almanac, David Wallechinsky's 20th Century; History With the Boring Parts Left Out and The Complete Book of the Olympics. He is also vice-president of the International Society of Olympic Historians. Amy Wallace is the co-author of four previous volumes of The Book of Lists, as well as several other popular reference books. She also wrote the biography The Prodigy, the novel Desire, and the bestselling memoir Sorcerer's Apprentice: My Life with Carlos Castaneda. Her most recent work is an all-new anniversary edition of her classic, The Psychic Healing Book. She currently lives in Los Angeles, California, with her two cats, Hank and Bella.

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd; Revised edition (October 6, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841956619
• ISBN-13: 978-1841956619
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #290,252 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #72 in Books > Education & Reference > Almanacs & Yearbooks > Almanacs

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A TRIVIA BUFF'S DELIGHT, March 20, 2005

By 

Loren D. Morrison "amateur_reviewer" (Los Angeles County, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Book of Lists (Paperback)

How can one not love a book that probably has more trivia per page than almost any book written? And, what bettewr way to review a book of lists than to make a list of some of my favorite lists? So, here's my list of 6 of my favorite lists from the hundreds of lists in __THE BOOK OF LISTS__.

1. 10 Words you can't pronounce correctly

2. The 15 most boring classics

3. 10 memorable books that never existed

4. 18 famous brains, and what they weighed

5. 15 famous events that happened in the bathtub

6. 10 people not to invite to dinner

In order to give you a further insight into the book, I have listed below a few random facts that I found particularly interesting.

African Elephants have gestation periods of 640 days while Opossums have only 13 day gestastion periods. (These are the two extremes from a long list of gestation periods.)

A flock of crows is correctly known as a murder of crows.

Well before 9/11, Iraq had received military aid from the U.S., Great Britain, China, and the U.S.S.R.

Desi Arnaz worked as a bird cage cleaner before he became a bandleader, Gerald Ford was a male model before he entered politics, and Carol Burnett started her entertainment career as an usherette.

As you can tell, there is enough information here to add a thrill a minute to a trivia buff's life.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lifetime Reading!, January 5, 2000

By 

Ceci D. (Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Book of Lists (Paperback)

I stole this book off of my father's bookshelf when I was 9 years old, and have pored through it over and over since then. It has so many different kinds of lists in it.. everything from magazine and celebrity compiled lists to obscenely obscure trivia, and of course, those morbidly fascinating ones! My husband and I make an occasional game of opening to random pages and seeing if we can guess what's on the lists. I've bragged about this book to friends more often than any other and I'm shopping for another copy now because my poor copy's about to fall apart. Beware buying this one.. it's a longtime addiction. ;)

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun and educational too !, April 20, 2003

By 

David Hofmayer (Orinda, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Book of Lists (Paperback)

Really, even though its got a lot of mindless fluff in it (that's fun to read I'll have you know) it also has lists that are fascinating and important from a historical or geographical standpoint, such as thirty new names for old places (i.e. Ethiopia for Abyssinia.) Besides that, the other lists are interesting even if inconsequential (like "seven remarkable messages in a bottle.") And I bet you didn't know that Anne Boleyn, wife of Henry VIII, had three breasts! Just another amazing fact that one can find in this praiseworthy book to discuss on long car trips . This book seems to have the affliction of becoming ragged through overuse, as almost every reviewer it seems will soon have to buy a new one. I guess that's just a testament to its fortitude and quality.