The 9 Most Lucrative Heists. 10 Unsolved Mysteries. 13 Fad Diets. 7 Things Made From Insects. If these pique your interest, you’ll enjoy the new book Listomania: A World of Fascinating Facts in Graphic Detail. My friend and old Wired colleague Hollis Heimbouch, who is at HarperCollins, sent me the book with a note promising I’d like it, and she was right. HarperCollins gave me permission to run a few lists on Boing Boing to give you an idea of how cool this book is. See the other lists after the jump.
Organized into eight chapters, Listomania covers questions of human behavior, trivia facts about geography (past and present), etymology, mythology, ancient and recent history, as well as pop culture. Some of the lists included are:
• 10 Tiny Terrors: a list of the ten most petite world leaders (yes, some were shorter than Napoleon!)
• 43 Famous People Who Were Adopted (e.g. Steve Jobs, Debbie Harry, Mark Twain, Alexander the Great)
• 15 Movies Featuring Giant Rabbits
• 10 Top Cheese Eating Countries( note correspondence to the top ten happiest countries)
• 8 Dastardly Ponzi Schemes
• 38 Ancient Cities (That People Still Live In)
• 28 Prehistoric Creatures Named for Famous People or Cool Things (e.g. Dracorex Hogwartsia, Attenborosaurus, and Psephorus Terrypratchetti)
Illustrated in full color with playful images, graphs, charts, captions, and photographs, this colorful book brings a new face to trivia and is sure to wow readers, surprise them, and make them laugh from cover to cover. Listomania functions as a practical information resource as well as a fun and quirky gift for readers of any age.
Buy Listomania: A World of Fascinating Facts in Graphic Detail on Amazon.com