Help for the Listless

THE BOOK OF LISTS

by DAVID WALLECHINSKY, IRVING WALLACE and AMY WALLACE

521 pages. Morrow. $10.95.

Ten helpful hints for a proper appreciation of this book:

1) Remember that Novelist Irving Wallace and David Wallechinsky are father and son but that young David has adopted the original family name, which was changed when Irving's immigrant father passed through Ellis Island.

2) To learn who Amy Wallace is, turn to page 521. She is a) Irving's daughter, b) David's sister, c) the possessor of "such psychic skills as clairvoyant reading and psychic healing."

3) Do not be confused by the full title: The People's Almanac Presents the Book of Lists. You are not watching a movie or a TV sitcom spinoff, although you are not exactly reading literature either. The explanation is a) simple, b) to keep each of these hints short and punchy, given under rubric No. 4.

4) The People's Almanac was a publishing coup brought off by Irving and David last year. While most reference books go on the shelf, this one was off the wall. Its 1,478 pages included biographies of comic-book characters, every obscure fact and factoid that could be assembled--and a series of unique lists ("15 renowned redheads," "nine breeds of dog that bite the most"). It was this section that proved the Almanac's most popular category.

5) "And that's how The Book of Lists was born," the editors write. "Out of our interest. Out of public enthusiasm."

6) It is helpful to know that the Wallace definition of "list" is generous. This is a list: a) one dozen eggs, b) asparagus, c) coffee, d) truffles. These, the editors say, are also lists: a) the Hammurabic Code, b) the Ten Commandments.

7) Some things The Book of Lists does not say about lists: a) they can be boring, silly and stupid (in 1976 visitors to Madame Tussaud's Waxwork Museum in London selected Twiggy as the most beautiful woman in the world); b) they are a poor key to civilized achievements ("Diets of 10 Famous People" includes Michelangelo and Billie Jean King); c) they lack plot development.

8) It is probably not a good idea to read The Book of Lists at a single sitting. Dip into it instead. When you need to know "Amy Wallace's 13 Favorite Dinner Guests from All History" in a hurry, the book will be there, waiting.

9) Ten is a neat number even when there are only nine things to say.

10) If The Book of Lists does not fully sate your craving, not to worry. The editors promise that "this is only a beginning. The Book of Lists will have offspring--many all-new, brand-new books of lists to follow it." Depending on the nature of your listlessness, that is a) good news, b) bad news. P. G.

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