To-Do List
FROM BUYING MILK TO FINDING A SOUL MATE,
WHAT OUR LISTS REVEAL ABOUT US
by Sasha Cagen

From groceries needed and songs to download, friends to see and places to go, people create lists for everything. But people’s lists give us a look at much more than the movies they like and errands they need to run. In To-Do List: FROM Buying Milk TO FINDING A Soul Mate, WHAT OUR LISTS REVEAL About Us (Fireside/Simon & Schuster, Inc.; November 6, 2007; $16/paper; 1-4165-3469-5), Sasha Cagen, a self-styled “to-do-list-o-lo-gist,” takes an interactive look at the “to-do” list and explores the way these scribbled agendas reflect our idiosyncrasies, personalities, and passions. Part of a new wave of “low-budget” reality culture, including books like Found and PostSecret, To-Do List provides a voyeuristic look at everyday life through the notes we write to ourselves.

Based on the popular magazine and blog of the same name, To-Do List is a collection of 100 real, handwritten to-do lists from all kinds of people—civilians and famous people alike, including chef Alice Waters, Stephen Dubner (co-author of Freakanomics), and Nick Hornby (author of High Fidelity)—and the stories behind them. Sent from across the U.S. and as far away as New Zealand and Bali, the lists reflect how people deal with everything from paying bills to kidney dialysis, getting organized to finding the ideal mate. Divided into categories such as “Daily Lists,” “Life Lists,” “Work Lists,” “New Year’s Resolutions,” and “Obsessive-Compulsive Lists,” the lists are a window into people’s lives, including:
• Author Nick Hornby’s list of desert island discs which includes Kitty’s Back (Bruce Springsteen) and Cali (LL Cool J).
• A college art teacher’s list of things she never wants to see in her students’ artwork—namely beach scenes, wooden mannequins, dead bears, and M.C. Escher references.
• A young-man’s ultimate to-do list, which includes not only skydiving but also breaking the sound barrier and learning to pick locks.
• Coauthor of Freakonomics Stephen Dubner’s reminders to himself about loading up his iPod with Bach, getting Steelers/Bengals tickets, and oh yeah, preparing for that trip to India with Bill Clinton.
• A list of qualities one man is looking for in a future wife, so exacting it includes “Chews with her mouth shut.”

Using the lists in this book as a jumping-off point, Cagen gives readers cues to try their hands at similar lists and also urges them to take a closer look at the lists they create to see what it says about them.

In the quirky tradition of books like Found and This Book Will Change Your Life, To-Do List is a fascinating celebration of list-making and a perfect opportunity to get to know yourself better through the lists you make.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Sasha Cagen is the author of Quirkyalone: A Manifesto for Uncompromising Romantics and the founding editor and publisher of To-Do List magazine and its corresponding blog, todolistblog.com. She lives in San Francisco, CA.

For list topics that Sasha has researched and can speak on, go here.

For more information, contact jamie.mcdonald AT simonandschuster.com