Review of "Book of Lists"

Well, the title is a bit out of the way…and some might think about seven persons who died as virgins as quite lucky but the fact remains that when I saw this written on the back of a certain book, I was compelled to read the inside.

As I went on reading it right there in the Universal book shop, Lucknow for over an hour, I was tapped on the forehead, and looked directly in the eye by the owner. I did what was best under the circumstances. Quietly bought the book.

For all you bookworms, this is a book worth collection. A most funny and riveting book I have ever read. It is not a thriller, it is not fiction. It is a very peculiar book. As the name suggests, it is a book of lists. Lists on all possible subjects that one can think of have been prepared…some are extremely informative, some are outright funny, some are extremely scandalous, some surprise one and some really frighten one.

The nice thing is that in most of the cases the basis of the list has been explained.

Some of the major lists included are: The GK ones include (have to include this to show that I actually look for this stuff): 9 breeds of dogs that bite most, 10 weapons named after people, 15 decisive battles of the world (wonderful descriptions), 12 Nazi criminals still at large, 10 best generals of the world, 10 worst generals of the world.

Trivia includes 10 worst films of all times, shoe sizes of 20 famous men, 15 famous events that happened in a bathtub, 15 famous people who took marijuana etc.

Now the list that most of us will read the first though not admit, the scandalous ones: 67 renowned homosexuals and bisexuals, 3 people (of course famous ones) who died during sex, sexual curiosities of 9 well-known women, 8 reasons to marry an older woman etc.

Thriller events: 10 doctors who tried to get away with murder, 10 sensational thefts, 8 important libel cases., 25 deaths from strange causes, 9 great unsolved mysteries, 10 ghastly ghosts etc.

The problem with this particular book is that one cannot review it in great detail. I can only say that there are almost all possible lists that a person can assume and the sheer collection of such an exhaustive and more importantly interesting data in one place is surely not to be missed.

After purchasing this book at Lucknow, I had read this entire volume during a train journey to Kolkata, just couldn't throw it away...It was damn interesting and funny.