The Presidential Book of Lists: From Most to Least, Elected to Rejected, Worst to Cursed-Fascinating Facts About Our Chief Executives

by Ian Randal Strock

An entertaining and informative compendium of facts and trivia about the U.S. presidents ranges from George Washington to the results of the 2008 presidential election in a volume organized into more than one hundred different categories.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

288 pages, Paperback

First published October 14, 2008

Reviews

[The Reading Countess]

I got this on a spur-of-the-moment trip to the local bookstore, hoping it could be a useful tool to teach aspects of nonfiction. This is a comprehensive look at all thinks presidential. However, because it is so complete, 1/4 of the way through the reader becomes completely bored. 250 pages of which president's name is the most common and who had the most/least children, how many wives they had, the longest terms in office...Again, it is very comprehensive. But I found myself disengaged long before the book ended.

[Jillian]

Picked up in the Lincoln Memorial bookstore, I was surprisingly disappointed in this book. I mean, some of the lists were funny and interesting, but it was more of probability factors than anything else. This was so cut and dry that I couldn't even get through all of it. There has to be some motive to read presidential history: it should either be interesting, informative, or both. This completely missed the mark.

[Keith]

Not very interesting after about the first 10 pages. Not really "fun" information but more technical and VERY repetitive as the same factoids keep coming up over and over. Sorry Mrs. Price.

[Aimee Massey]

I love trivia, and I love lists. And I also am very fond of presidential trivia, and it's something that comes up quite often at my weekly trivia game.
But this book is a big, crashing bore. The truly interesting facts are few and far between. Instead, we're treated to lists of which presidents lived the longest, which lived the longest after they left the office, which outlived their wives, which outlived their parents, and on and on and on. Extremely repetitive and dry as a bone. Don't waste your time.

[Nicholas Whyte]

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1173146.html[return][return]Well, if anyone should ever assert that my own interest in presidential trivia is in any way peculiar, I can point to ianrandalstrock's wonderful ranking of presidents ordered by how many states joined the Union during their terms of office (top spot goes to the otherwise obscure Benjamin Harrison, with six) and other superb lists including how many of them were outlived by one (Polk, Garfield, Harding) or both (Kennedy) of their own parents. Anyone who loves presidential trivia will love this book. (This may not be a huge market.)

[Peggy]

If you like presidential trivia (like I do),this is a good book to have. Some categories didn't interest me much, like "The first and last presidents born in the 1700's", but some were fascinating: "the 7 presidents who changed their names", "the 5 states that voted least often for the winning presidential candidate", and "presidents known for having facial hair" to name a few. There are 104 different lists.

[Jennifer Daniel]

I love obscure trivia especially about presidents! This was chock full of juicy tid-bits! Who was the only only unmarried president? I'm not telling but seriously I think he was gay. He had his "friend" who travel with him & stayed at the White House. Very interesting.

[Joseph J]

I learned more about the presidents. I learned about a president named David Atchison who was president for only one day. I would recommend this book to everyone who loves history! I loved reading this book! This is one of the best books I've ever read!

[Michael]

A fascinating look at the men who have served as president of the United States.

[Stephen]

Informative and a quick read. Insightful lists of the basic data that makes these individuals similar and unique. A good shelf saver for the amatuer presidential historian.

[Jessica]

A must read for any presidential trivia junkie!

[Ellen]

Borrowed from my sweet nephew. :)