Wait a Minute ...
You know Tuesday/Wednesday's book meme? And how it starts out with the words: "The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they've printed"? Turns out, it's bogus.
The Big Read (a program of the NEA) has a book list, but it's only 16 items long. The BBC also had a initiative called "The Big Read", which did have a list of 100 books, but it was a different list. Turns out this meme is based on a list produced by a "World Book Day" poll printed in the Guardian (British newspaper) a year ago. Which suddenly explains the weird duplications of both Lewis and Shakespeare on the list, the gaps I commented on in my original posting and the heavy leaning toward a "pundit's view of modern-lit" (as fpb put it).
Thanks to The Rabid Paladin for the detective work:
http://rabidpaladin.com/archive/2008/06/25/book-geek.aspx
The Big Read (a program of the NEA) has a book list, but it's only 16 items long. The BBC also had a initiative called "The Big Read", which did have a list of 100 books, but it was a different list. Turns out this meme is based on a list produced by a "World Book Day" poll printed in the Guardian (British newspaper) a year ago. Which suddenly explains the weird duplications of both Lewis and Shakespeare on the list, the gaps I commented on in my original posting and the heavy leaning toward a "pundit's view of modern-lit" (as fpb put it).
Thanks to The Rabid Paladin for the detective work:
http://rabidpaladin.com/archive/2008/06/25/book-geek.aspx