Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
5 Reasons to Buy this Book, December 21, 2005
Ok, there are more than five reasons! I was eight years old when my older brother received the original "Book of Lists" (1977) as a Christmas gift. The book compiled lists of mostly useless trivia. My family members all had fun scanning the lists, but I was the most mesmerized. To an eight-year-old list freak, The Book of Lists was like manna. Reading about people who died unusual deaths or about the shortest celebrity marriages provided endless hours of entertainment. I've always loved lists and eagerly anticipated each successive edition of the "Book of Lists." More than a decade has passed since the last version - the rather ho-hum "90s Edition." Since that time, the internet (especially google) has made these types of lists somewhat irrelevant, as anybody with a laptop can successfully build their own lists of trivia. However, it's still great fun and provides a certain nostalgia factor for those of us who grew up with this series.
"The New Book of Lists" brings back two of the original authors - David Wallechinsky and Amy Wallace (the third author was now-deceased Irving Wallace). This edition combines a number of old favorites (9 Disparaging Sobriquets), updates others (the 2002 Olympic ice skating scandal is added to "10 Olympic Controversies"), and includes a number of brand new lists (Oliver Stone's 12 Best Political Films). The book is perfect for bedside, as it can be digested in small portions before you slip into arcania-sated slumber. Since the first 1997 edition, numerous other books have aped the Book of Lists, but none has ever approached this series. A real winner.
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Phenomenal, December 29, 2005
Back in the 1970s, I bought the Book of Lists and Book of Lists #2. I loved the countless of facts both arcane and informative and I along with my fellow college radio DJ's recited a few on air. I'd long since forgotten the joy and pleasure I derived from reading all of these lists. I was reminded of those long ago memories when I bought a copy of this book. The authors have once again done an excellent job in compiling numerous lists. With main topics like Movies, Music, the Arts, Animals, Sex, Love & Marriage, Work & Money, Crime, Politics, etc. you can spend hours reading through this book. It's the kind of book you can leaf through on a rainy night or on a lazy afternoon. Guilty pleasure it may be, or just fascinating the amount of trivia available, this book is lots of fun.
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Overall a dissapointment, January 13, 2006
Having read the entire Book of Lists/People's Almananc series since I was a kid I was eagerly anticipating this newest version. I have to admit to being dissapointed in what is at best a rehash of some of the prior lists.
I would estimate that somewhere between 40-60% of this book is nothing more then repeates from previous books. While the original content is as fascinating as ever all of the warmed over lists really hurt this books experience for me. Having read the books by the folks at Mental Floss and the Bathroom Readers it would seem that the torch is being passed to a new generation.
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