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What is so appealing about a list? It's tidy, it's pithy, it's easy on the eyes and noggin. In this over-saturated age of information inundation, the list presents preorganised data in a format that doesn't require a lot of concentration or drain vast stores of brain wattage. Even the weariest intellect can enjoy a list of 10 data points. Ten most suicidal countries? Lithuania, Estonia and Hungary get top billing. The best-selling postcard in the Tate Gallery is of The Lady of Shalott by John William Waterhouse, whereas the top postcard in London's National Gallery shows Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers. And the list of top 10 countries with the most video rental outlets starts with the US, Pakistan,and China, and South Korea and Romania don't trail far behind. Russell Ash provides lists on the universe and the earth, animals and vegetation, births, deaths and political achievements. There are city lists and country lists, building lists and park lists, as well as lists pertaining to music, books, movies, theatre, transportation, sports and the commercial world, plus a special section of millennium-milestone lists to prepare us for the next century. The top 10 reasons to get The Top Ten of Everything? It is:
1.Entertaining
2.Educational
3.Fine Bathroom Reading
4.An Excellent Statistical Resource
5.Fun to Read Aloud to Anyone Who'll Listen
6.Doesn't Require a V-Chip
7.Portable
8.Great Classroom Reference
9.Keeps the Back Seat Quiet During Family Trips
10.It Has Only One Adverse Side-Effect: Know-It-All-ism.
--Stephanie Gold
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