Literature lover's book of lists : serious trivia for the bibliophile

by Judie L. H. Strouf

Paperback, 1998

Status

Available

Genres

Reference

All Topics

Nonfiction

Collection

Lee Soper Collection

Publication

Paramus, NJ : Prentice-Hall, c1998.

Description

Wonderful for browsing, and invaluable for finding specificinformation, Literature Lovers Book of Lists is a compendium ofuseful and sometimes whimsical information for anyone who lovesbooks and loves to read, at any age or reading level. It isorganized into nine sections and provides nearly 200 lists relatingto genres, authors, characters and settings, awards, literary termswith their definitions and much more. There are even lists of booksof prose and poetry available on audiocassettes. If it has to do with literature, this book has the answers. What book has had the longest run on The New York Times best-sellerlist? Who is the only four-time winner of the Pulitizer Prize fordrama? What is the complete list of Shakespeare's plays and poems? Who are some of the most notable African American authors? What are the three main variations of the sonnet? What famous writers belonged to The Bloomsbury Group? Literature Lovers Book of Lists is both exciting and informative atthe same time.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Kathleen828

Goes to show you should never buy a "recommended" book if you don't know what's in it. The subtitle says "Serious" Trivia, but this turns out to be pretty simplistic lists. Still sort of fun, but if you already are a bibliophile, there is nothing here you don't already know, and most likely have,

in better form than this.

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LibraryThing member NielsenGW

Judie Strouf’s Literature Lover’s Book of Lists is a simple exercise that gather a lot of information. It bills itself as a “compendium of useful, whimsical, and necessary information for people…who love to read.” The 198 compiled lists try to order, categorize, and codify the entirety of

literature for those crave such information. It has every Pulitzer Prize winner and their works, poem types and literary devices with examples, landmark books and speeches from every major Western period, lists of literary genres, and so on and so on.

Aside from its very evident Western bias and dated information, I only have one quibble with this volume. In the section on poetic forms, she includes personal compositions for the couplet, sestina, pantoum, and cinquain, as if no there are other classic or seminal examples of these forms. Luckily, she had the presence of mind to stay out of the sonnets. Other than that, you’ll find a wealth of information here. I don’t, however, suggest you read it straight through. It’s a bit of a slog, but as a bathroom reader it works rather well.

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