Find a copy in the library
Finding libraries that hold this item...
Details
| Genre/Form: | Miscellanea |
|---|---|
| Additional Physical Format: | Online version: Lazar, Allan, 1931- 101 most influential people who never lived. New York : Harper, c2006 (OCoLC)654478551 |
| Document Type: | Book |
| All Authors / Contributors: |
Allan Lazar; Dan Karlan; Jeremy Salter |
| ISBN: | 0061132217 9780061132216 |
| OCLC Number: | 65521592 |
| Description: | xiii, 317 p. ; 21 cm. |
| Contents: | 1. Greek and Roman myths: Prometheus #46 -- Apollo and Dionysus #23 -- Venus and Cupid #45 -- Pandora #47 -- Helen #59 -- Odysseus #24 -- Midas #29 -- Pygmalion #88 -- Icarus #80 -- Hercules #76 -- 1. Folktales: Santa Claus #4 -- The Pied Piper #69 -- The wandering Jew #92 -- Hansel and Gretel #52 -- Cinderella, A rebuttal #26 -- 3. Legends: Lilith #99 -- Saint Valentine #58 -- King Arthur #3 -- Robin Hood #12 -- William Tell #42 -- Don Juan #40 -- Interlude: how we did it-- the ranking method -- 4. Monsters: Dr. Frankenstein's monster -- #6 -- Loch Ness monster #56 -- King Kong #74 -- Godzilla #38 -- 5. Stereotypes: Prince charming #20 -- Jim Crow #13 -- Mammy #81 -- 6. Adventure: Sinbad the Sailor #82 -- Robinson Crusoe #22 -- Buck #94 -- Tarzan #49 -- Luke Skywalker #85 -- Interlude: categories -- 7. Crime: Sherlock Holmes #8 -- Batman #60 -- Hans Beckert #90 -- Dick Tracy #77 -- 8. Americana: Uncle Sam #61 -- Uncle Tom #11 -- Hiawatha #71 -- The American Cowboy #19 -- Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn #65 -- Paul Bunyan #101 -- Amos 'n' Andy #83 -- G.I. Joe #48 -- John Doe #100 -- 9. Literature: Don Quixote #17 -- Ivanhoe #97 -- Ebenezer Scrooge #16 -- Captain Ahab #53 -- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde #10 -- The great Gatsby #93 -- Interlude: the writing process -- 10. Children's literature: The little engine that could #31 -- The ugly duckling #55 -- Alice #34 -- Peter Pan #70 -- The cat in the hat #79 -- 11. Theater: Oedipus #14 -- Romeo and Juliet #9 -- Hamlet #5 -- Othello #72 -- Shylock #27 -- Figaro #37 -- Faust #36 -- Madame Butterfly #89 -- Siegfried #7 -- Willy Loman -- Interlude: who met whom? -- 12. Movies: The little tramp #73 -- Dracula #33 -- Dorothy Gale #91 -- Sam Spade #68 -- Citizen Kane #35 -- Richard Blaine #54 -- Elmer Gantry #98 -- Norman Bates #75 -- Dr. Strangelove #87 -- Bond, James Bond #51 -- Atticus Finch #57 -- HAL 9000 #66 -- 13. Women's literature: Hester Prynne #30 -- Nora Helmer #25 -- Lady Chatterly #15 -- Nancy Drew #62 -- Mary Richards #39 -- Buffy the Vampire Slayer #44 -- Interlude: who's fictional? -- 14. Comics and animation: Mickey Mouse #18 -- Betty Boop #96 -- Buck Rogers #84 -- Superman #64 -- Bambi #41 -- 15. Commerce: The marlboro man #1 -- Barbie #43 -- Joe Camel #78 -- 16. Propaganda: Smokey Bear #21 -- Rosie the Riveter #28 -- Big Brother #2 -- 17. Television: Perry Mason #86 -- Archie Bunker #32 -- Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock #50 -- J. R. Ewing #63 -- Kermit the Frog #67. |
| Other Titles: | One hundred one most influential people who never lived One hundred and one most influential people who never lived |
| Responsibility: | Allan Lazar, Dan Karlen, and Jeremy Salter. |
Abstract:
Reviews
WorldCat User Reviews (1)
Funny and Educational
The authors present the 101 fictional characters that have had the most influence on our society, behavior, and ultimately our history. They explain in detail their process of inclusion on and elimination from the list. They also readily acknowledge there is room for disagreement in not...
Read more...
The authors present the 101 fictional characters that have had the most influence on our society, behavior, and ultimately our history. They explain in detail their process of inclusion on and elimination from the list. They also readily acknowledge there is room for disagreement in not only who did or did not make the list, but in how the characters were ranked on the list. They also point out that they left many popular characters off the list, because popular does not always translate into influential.
The idea for this book sprang from another book - The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History by Michael Hart.
Near the beginning of the book, the authors have listed the entire 101 characters in rank order. Prior to reading the entire book, you might find yourself questioning some of the rankings just as I had. However, after I finished the book and understood the authors’ methodology and reasoning, I no longer disagreed with as many of the ranking decisions the authors made. Keep in mind that the authors tried to rank each character’s overall influence, not the influence a particular character had on the authors’ personal lives.
The book also includes an appendix, which is an alphabetical list of twenty “also-rans and near misses.” Throughout the book, in the category/chapter introductions, and the interludes the reasons why some characters were left off the list are discussed.
I really enjoyed the way the characters were broken up into 17 different categories, with a corresponding chapter for each category (i.e. movies, folk tales, propaganda, stereotypes, legends, etc.) The authors readily admit that many of the characters could have easily fit in more than one category, but I think a good case is made for the final category placement of each character.
Each category is preceded by an introduction. There are also five “interludes,” in which the character selection and writing process of the book is further elaborated.
I really enjoyed the humor the authors used throughout the book, some of which is very obvious and some is much more subtle.
Initially, I was disappointed that the characters were not discussed in rank order (101 to one), but after I got into the first chapter, I really enjoyed the way the characters were grouped into categories. This makes it easier to compare similarly influential characters.
I learned a lot from this book, including some things I was surprised I did not already know. (How on earth did I not know that Dashiell Hammett was a victim of the Hollywood blacklist?!) Connections between characters and the events they arose from and/or affected also became clearer to me.
While some readers may not draw the same conclusions on whether a given character’s influence was good or bad, I found myself sharing many of the same opinions as the authors. I was actually relieved in some cases to discover, “Hey! I’m not the only person who thinks this character send a good/bad message.” I’m talking to you Cinderella!
If you are a history nerd and/or trivia junkie like I am, I really believe you will enjoy this book.
- Was this review helpful to you?
Tags
All user tags (2)
- pop culture (by 1 person)
- trivia (by 1 person)
- 1 items are tagged withpop culture
- 1 items are tagged withtrivia
Similar Items
Related Subjects:(12)
- United States -- Civilization -- Miscellanea.
- National characteristics, American -- Miscellanea.
- Popular culture -- United States -- Miscellanea.
- Fictitious characters -- Miscellanea.
- Mythology -- Miscellanea.
- Legends -- Miscellanea.
- Fiktive Gestalt.
- Pop-Kultur.
- Mythologie.
- Legende.
- Gesellschaft.
- USA.
User lists with this item (4)
- Info and Education(15 items)
by karenrobie updated 2013-02-22
- THET285(7 items)
by ajmartucci updated 2012-12-06
- Bambi Anniversary(6 items)
by emcdaniel3 updated 2012-08-22
- Things to Check Out(78 items)
by aliciaowings updated 2010-12-15
