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Indexes for the Recreational Reader
by Madge Walls

Originally published in Key Words, the journal of the American Society for Indexing

We all know that an index is necessary in a serious tome that will be read by a researcher looking for that one great nugget of information to add to his thesis. Or to ensure that a book will be taken seriously by reviewers, college professors and librarians.

But what about the casual reader of nonfiction, the person who loves reading biography, history or the latest exposé of political or business fiascos? For these recreational readers, an index becomes a useful reading tool.

I always have a nonfiction book on my bedside table, picked up to satisfy my curiosity on some particular subject (as well as a novel and another book on CD in my car). When I occasionally get lost in the density of the prose, I rely on the index to take me back to the earlier thread of the discussion, or to identify some personage who was mentioned 100 pages earlier and pops up again in a critical but forgotten (by me) role. It also helps tremendously when one book leads to another and I need to review why, months previously, I was so interested.

The Perfect Store: Inside eBay by Adam Cohen is a fascinating insider’s look at this dazzling modern phenomenon. That book led me to PayPal Wars: Battles with eBay, the Media, the Mafia and the rest of Planet Earth by Eric M. Jackson, another riveting read. While reading PayPal, I found myself turning to the index in eBay to refresh my recollection of its discussions regarding their mutual history and battles. The reading experience was greatly enriched by being able to locate the discussions in the first book so easily.

Next I picked up Notorious Victoria, the Life of Victoria Woodhull, Uncensored by Mary Gabriel. Victoria Woodhull was the beautiful child of an itinerant con man and snake oil salesman who pulled herself up by her high buttoned boots to become the first female stockbroker in New York City as well as a notorious fighter for women's rights, free love, and labor reforms shortly after the Civil War. In 1872 she also became the first woman to seriously run for president of the U.S…decades before women could vote. In addition, she was a leading player in the Henry Ward Beecher adultery scandal of 1870s. Henry Ward Beecher was a Congregationalist minister in Brooklyn, New York. A true celebrity of his day, he was a forerunner of the mega-ministers we know today. From the pulpit he publicly denounced Woodhull’s advocacy of free love. She retaliated by breaking the story in her newspaper that he himself practiced free love with the wife of a parishioner. Beecher’s adultery trial was one of the most famous American trials of the 19th century. Woodhull, for all her trouble, was arrested and imprisoned for sending obscene material in the mail.

You guessed it – Victoria’s biography, which I could barely put down, led me to Henry Ward Beecher, the Most Famous Man in America, by Debbie Applegate. The first thing I did was turn to the index to see how soon Victoria would stride onstage (not until page 410, as it turned out). However, the book was another page turner in which I often had to resort to the index to keep all the outrageous characters in Henry’s life straight. They included his firebrand preacher/father Lyman Beecher and his sister Harriett Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

Finally, let me mention another duo of preposterously interesting books: What’s the Matter with Kansas, by Thomas Frank, and What’s the Matter with California: Cultural Rumbles from the Golden State and Why the Rest of Us Should be Shaking by Jack Cashill. Kansas was forced on me by my brother who lives for political discussions. It took me three years to reach so low in my reading pile that I finally stooped to read it. I was enthralled! While immersed, I heard, by chance, Jack Cashill speak about his own book on NPR, saying that California was inspired by the section on him in Kansas. How bizarre. Of course I raced out and bought California to find out how it all fit together.

Fortunately Kansas contained an excellent index, so I was easily able to locate the section on Cashill to refresh my memory on what Frank had said about him. However, when I needed to backtrack in California for one reason or another, there was no index to assist me. I was so frustrated that I located Cashill’s website and emailed him, asking why. He graciously replied that he was also disappointed, but that the publisher hadn’t wanted to spend the money. I offered to do it for free for the next printing, just for the bragging rights. He cheerfully said he’d let the publisher know.

So when you’re asked by an author whether or not his book needs an index, of course the standard answer is, “Yes, if you expect it to be taken seriously by reviewers, researchers, librarians and professors.” But don’t hesitate to mention the casual reader who might need a handy guide to backtracking or cross referencing to refresh his or her memory. Like me!!

Article: Good Indexes Sell Books Author as Indexer Article

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