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  • Published: 29 November 2022
  • ISBN: 9780241562727
  • Imprint: Particular Books
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 160
  • RRP: $29.99

Eliot's Book of Bookish Lists

A sparkling miscellany of literary lists



A sparkling miscellany of literary trivia

Who had birds called Death, Wigs and Spinach? How do you spell the noise of a door slamming? Whose working title was The Chronic Argonauts?

Henry Eliot - author, editor and insatiable bookworm - has ransacked the libraries and archives of world literature, compiling hundreds of bookish lists. This eclectic gallimaufry showcases his favourites: we witness the tragic ends of the Ancient Greek tragedians, learn the name of George Orwell's pet cockerel and rummage through Joan Didion's travelling bag; we consider the history of literary fart jokes, orbit the Shakespearean moons of Uranus and meet several pigs with wings. From the sublime to the ridiculous - and everything in between ­- Eliot's lists, recommendations and nuggets of trivia will delight, inspire and surprise anyone who loves reading.

Beautifully presented with supplementary maps and illustrations, Henry Eliot's Book of Bookish Lists is the essential gift for book-lovers.

  • Published: 29 November 2022
  • ISBN: 9780241562727
  • Imprint: Particular Books
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 160
  • RRP: $29.99

About the author

Henry Eliot

Henry Eliot is the author of The Penguin Classics Book and the presenter of the podcast On the Road with Penguin Classics. He has organized various literary tours, including a mass public pilgrimage for the National Trust (inspired by William Morris), a recreation of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, which raised money for the National Literacy Trust, a Lake Poets tour of Cumbria and a quest for the Holy Grail based on Malory's Morte D'Arthur. He is also the author of Follow This Thread: A Maze Book to Get Lost In and Curiocity: An Alternative A to Z of London.

Also by Henry Eliot

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Praise for Eliot's Book of Bookish Lists

Hours of innocent snacking

Iain Sinclair

An eccentric idea beautifully executed

Louis de Bernières

Brimful of piquant and scrumptious surprises

John Lloyd

I loved Eliot's book for its wit, learning, eccentricity and unrepentant bookishness

Alan Taylor

An absolute delight - Borges meets Buzzfeed

Tom Holland

A trove of treasures from start to finish

Dennis Duncan

Buried deep in the etymology of the word 'list' is the notion of pleasure. Mr Eliot's marvellous vade mecum reminds us why

John Mitchinson

Thoroughly enjoyable... As amusing as it is informing

Michael Portillo

If there was a list of books about lists, Eliot's Book of Bookish Lists would be top

Philip Pullman

A gorgeous confection . . . How do I love this book? Let me list the ways . . .

Chris Riddell

Eliot's books have been my equivalent of big game almanacs. This book is half a delight and half a gauntlet

Stuart Kelly, Scotsman

The ultimate book for lovers of lists and literature . . . surprising, inspiring and amusing

Denise O'Donoghue, Irish Examiner

Totally enthralling... The perfect bedside book

Jilly Cooper

Very entertaining and sprightly

Ian McKellen

A magnificent labyrinth of literary trivia to get lost in . . . fun and fascinating things on every page

Edward Brooke-Hitching

Deliciously idiosyncratic

Rachel Cooke, Observer

Reading this book is like going on a literary Grand Tour . . . Essential for the pub quiz

Country Life

I loved this so much. Lists for bookish folk, filled with things I had not known or dreamed

Neil Gaiman