Non-fiction
Wallace loved and championed the underdog. He enjoyed writing the stories of outsiders, which interest saw light in The Square Pegs: Some Americans Who Dared to Be Different. With his son, daughter and wife he produced some notable non-fiction works, including three editions each of The People's Almanac and The Book of Lists. Many of the odd facts Wallace uncovered he utilised in his novels. He placed an advertisement in The Times for listomaniacs as a precursor to The Book of Lists and one of the respondents was Jeremy Beadle who sent a long list without knowing but suspecting that Wallace was behind the advert. Beadle was given Wallace's home phone number and the two men spent hours talking. Wallace said that Beadle's lists were the best of all those sent in. He invited the Englishman to become the London editor of The People's Almanac 2 (1978).
Read more about this topic: Irving Wallace