Offer expires July 1, 2010.

Update, early August: Speaking of expired, I recently learned that post-Kimmell the remaining stock of the book pretty much sold out and Milk Eggs Vodka can now officially be considered “out-of-print.” Obviously it’s still available used, 3rd party, etc. Thank you so much to those of you who bought it, have contributed lists, have linked the site or simply laughed at the collection.

I encourage you to let HOW Books know if you’d like to see a new edition.

Update, late December: Look for a new paperback edition in April 2011! Although you can pre-order it now, so go ahead.

You know times are hard when the shopping list makes a comeback.

As the recession takes hold, consumers who used to shop impulsively are seeking ways to rein in their spending, and many are finding that sticking to a list can help them navigate through stores and limit their purchases.

Yes, I meant to post this a while ago.

From an interview with me at Orato:

I saw a story on the BBC the other day about a 300-year-old shopping list that had been found in the UK. For some weird reason, I started Googling “shopping lists” and stumbled upon grocerylists.org, owned and operated by a man named Bill Keaggy. Not only was he running this insanely entertaining website, but he had published a book, Milk Eggs Vodka: Grocery Lists Lost And Found, which featured the very best of his grocery list collection! I found myself more interested in shopping lists than I ever thought I could be, and strangely satisfied, in a voyeuristic kind of way, by this little peep into other people’s lives. Who was this man? I just had to know, so I phoned him – here’s what he told me.

A 2007 books roundup from the Akron Beacon-Journal (now behind the stupid newspaper paywall — boo!):

Authors with area connections came through with fine work this year. Here’s a look at some of the best.

At Lifehacker: Never Forget an Item at the Supermarket:

Never forget to buy anything the next time you stop at the supermarket with the “Ultimatest Grocery list.” …For a comprehensive list that should cover anything you need on your trip to the food mart, this one’s it.

From the Real Life Survival Guide radio show on WNPR:

…it’s just a eight and a half by eleven sheet that has a lot of different products on it, pretty well sorted into the department that you’re gonna find in most grocery stores…

The Ultimatest Grocery List was featured in “Milk Eggs Vodka” and is available on the grocerylists.org site. btw, it’s good to know that the fine students at MIT have access to some quality study materials.

Nice! Especially the part where they called it “surprisingly but absolutely addictive.”

Yeah, we talked about grocery lists.

I haven’t listened to it yet. I remember thinking to myself during the interview, “Usually I am much funnier.” I think the reason was that I did the interview in St. Louis’ NPR studio, and I could hear every movement and gesture in my headphones so I just sat still the whole time (usually I walk around and flail during interviews). Anyway… click the Oct 20, 2007 link to hear streaming audio.

This week’s Cityscape is chock full of tales from the supermarket. We’ll talk to a guy who collects abandoned grocery lists, hear why a Queens woman longs for the grocery stores in her native California, and check out a competition for New York City’s fastest grocery bagger.

Anyway, yesterday I recorded an interview about the book and grocery lists with New York City’s NPR station, WFUV. I’ll post an update when I find out when it’s going to air.

See? The book is F-U-N-N-Y. Funny!

Book inscriptions, grocery lists, Post-it notes – one man’s trash is truly another man’s treasure.

Particularly if that man’s trash is really weird.

For example, a dated photo that features an older woman standing proudly next to a Christmas tree – which is topped with an enormous, jeweled armadillo.

Or a shopping list that includes “Kid hair de-tangler, ibuprofen, Fibre-all, Sensodyne, Prozac.”

Or a note that says “BIND ME, please! And bring COOKIES!”

It begs the question: What happens if the person brings the wrong kind of cookies – will binding not occur? (Or will they, perhaps, be bound as punishment?) When will the cookies be eaten: before, after or during?

It’s a lot for a complete stranger to ponder.

Bill Keaggy, the founder of Grocerylists.org, was leaving a grocery store one day when a sort of “silly serendipity” struck: he found a grocery list on a yellow Post-it note. The list itself was nothing special, but much like Raviv, Keaggy found himself fixating on the person it belonged to.

Several hundred of the best lists appear in my book, “Milk Eggs Vodka.”

In his weekly feature, copy editor Ron Davis poses five questions to Bill Keaggy, author of “Milk Eggs Vodka: Grocery Lists Lost and Found,” based on the Web site www.grocery-lists.org www.grocerylists.org — which is, basically, a collection of grocery lists.

Update: Here’s the podcast: Debbie Monterrey and Dan Gray speak with St. Louis’ Bill Keaggy, who compiled a book of abandoned grocery lists!