The list and ranking formats are generally tired. How many ways can you write a magazine or newspaper article about the Top 10 [fill in the blank]? They're especially overdone in lifestyle magazines, where it's considered hack to have a list with less than 50 entries. The result are absurd numbers of mundane things, like "73 Things You Can Do With Your Tongue."
That said, I find rankings and lists useful when they're about a topic I know nothing about. A case in point is this recently published list of Top 10 Modern Korean poets. The rankings don't matter; I find it useful because it's a starting point for exploring the topic. I may discover eventually that I don't agree with the list at all, but without it I'd be overwhelmed by the total number of Korean poets and wouldn't know where to start.
--AB
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2 comments:
I don't know -- I'm sort of interested in that "tongue" list...
Fair enough: A free copy of Jen Tynes' The End of Rude Handles to the first person who emails me a list of 73 Things You Can Do With Your Tongue.
Rules:
1) The verb "lick" can only be used once, unless its subsequent uses are creative and/or funny (I'll be the judge).
2) Contest ends on 10/30/07.
Email: info@redmorningpress.com
--AB
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