The AV Club Takes Inventory

By Marcus Gilmer in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 13, 2009 4:40PM

We've long been fans of the books put out by the folks from The Onion and the newest book from The AV Club is no different. Inventory is a collection of lists. That's all it is. But it's a pretty damn funny and comprehensive, if a bit random, collection of lists and it's the randomness that we dig. In a sense, it's the perfect coffee table (or bathroom) book that you can pick up whenever you feel like and read through in any, well, random order. From the profane ("16 Tragic Instances of Movie Masturbation") to the auteur ("15 Moveis With Great Dialogue-Free Scenes") to the just plain warped ("9 Classic Instances of Animal Snuff for Kids"), the lists keep us turning the page to the next one.

Of course, the lists would be pointless without well-written content to flesh them out. This isn't a concern as the high quality of writing that permeates The AV Club's regular material is carried over into the lists. At times irreverent and at other times thoughtful, the staff of The AV Club always have a knowing smile but at the same time take the material seriously, be it comic book villains or cover songs. You may even learn something: check out the informative "11 Videogames That Prompted Fear and Outrage," which moves through controversies surrounding various videogame releases over the last 30 years.

Tonight, our pals at AV Club Chicago are throwing a party to celebrate the books release beginning with a reading at Borders (2817 N. Clark St.) from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and then taking the party down the block to Crossroads Public Ale House (2630 N. Clark St.).