There are several volumes of The Book of Lists; three were published in the late 1970’s and and early 1980’s, while a fourth was published in the 1990’s. All are tremendous sources of trivia. All the books follow the same format: the various lists are divided into chapters by topic. Thus, all the animal-related lists will be grouped in the same chapter. All the books have similarly-themed chapters, as well. So, each book has a chapter devoted to animals. Each book will also have a chapter devoted to crime, entertainment, places, and sex, amongst other things.
Some of the entries are indeed nothing but lists, while others will include more detailed descriptions. A list like ’’Thirty Famous Redheads’’ will include the people’s names and sometimes their birthdates and/or occupations. Other lists, like ’’The Ten Most Decisive battles, ’’ include short blurbs describing the items listed.
A big problem with all the Lists books is that they very quickly become dated. For example, one volume lists the planets of the solar system and their known moons. Unfortunately, said list was made in the 1970’s, and many more moons have been discovered since then. This problem is especially acute in the science and entertainment sections.
Wallace, the editor of the Lists books, compiled some lists himself, but obtained a majority from other sources. In some sections, he invites people to compile lists of the ’’Ten Most Influential Movies’’ or the like. In one entertaining segment, he invites people to list the ten historical figures they would most like to have dinner with.
Vincent Price plainly had fun answering this one, as he not only dutifully included a list of ten people, he then included a long and elaborate description of what he would serve them. Another respondent commented that he would like to talk to Hitler over a cup of coffee-- ’’but not while I’m eating.’’ As the above examples indicate, Lists sometimes treats its subjects with a decidedly flippant manner.
Even some of the lists are goofy, like the one devoted to ’’Ten Strangest Gangsters’ Nicknames, ’’ which describes how people like ’’Bugsy’’ Siegel and ’’Pretty Boy’’ Floyd had come by their monikers. Wallace dryly notes that many of these criminals hated their nicknames.
Not all of the lists are merely silly. Some could have practical uses, like the lists of dog breeds that respectively bite the most and the least. Others tackle serious subjects, like war. Even here, Wallace can’t resist slipping in a list like ’’The Ten Most Incompetent Generals, ’’ though. One of these was the U.S. Civil War general, Burnside. of whom President Lincoln once said ’’had wrung one last spectacular defeat from the jaws of victory.’’
Lists are fun, entertaining, and informative books. They are certainly worth tracking down.