The Book of Lists: The Original Compendium of Curious Information

Trevor S. Raymond is a teacher and librarian with the Peel Board of Education and editor of Canadian Holmes.

Seven things you should know about this book:

1. The Book of Lists, by novelist Irving Wallace and his son and
daughter, a publishing phenomenon in 1977, was followed by several
sequels and “nearly 200 imitation volumes,” such as The Great
Canadian Book of Lists in 1999. This new book is also by Wallace
siblings, but equal billing is given to the two Canadians who oversaw
the book’s considerable Canadian content.

2. Canadian content comes not just in lists that are exclusively
Canadian (“8 Real Barenaked Ladies in Canadian History”) or by
Canadians (“Aislin’s 10 Favourite Faces for Political Cartooning”)
but has been incorporated directly into most of the book. Thus, “10
Meetings Between Famous People and People Not Yet Famous” includes a
young Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s meeting with Wordsworth and also
the encounter between young newsboy John Diefenbaker and Prime Minister
Laurier.

3. There are 209 lists in 15 categories. Only one appears intact from
the original edition, but a few are revisions of previous lists.

4. The oldest event cited is in Genesis; the most recent to make a list
is the conclusion in 2005 of a case heard by the Federal Court of Canada
involving a flying squirrel living illegally in Ontario.

5. This book can supply amazing trivia for parties; it can also rouse
strong passion where a list is subjective. (Is John Lennon’s
“Instant Karma” really the perfect pop song?)

6. Five of the many famous people who contributed personal lists are
Johnny Cash, Margaret Macmillan, Dizzy Gillespie, Margaret Atwood, and
Kurt Browning.

7. This is a book best read in small bites, but how can one put it down
when the next list is “10 Best Canadian References on The Simpsons”
or “Preserved Sex Organs of 4 Famous Men”? For once, a cover blurb
is unquestionably accurate: “This book is addictive.”