The Dodo Collection. Steve Stack

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Dedication

      For Ethan and Martha

       who have never heard of most of the things in this book, the poor, deprived children

      Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

Dedication

Introduction

AT THE CUTTING EDGE OF TECHNOLOGY: Crushed beneath the wheels of progress …

IN THE HOME: Where we all grew up …

IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD: Where we walked and played, commuted from, and came home to …

       ON THE HIGH STREET: Where we shopped, banked, parked, and hung about …

       AT SCHOOL: Where we learnt, got into trouble, and grazed our knees …

       ON TELEVISION AND RADIO: That we wasted hours in front of …

       IN THE CINEMA: Where we sat in the dark, snogged, and ate popcorn …

       IN THE NEWSAGENT: Where we bought our sweets and comics …

       ALL THE OTHER STUFF: Where I have plonked everything else …

Introduction

      With 21st Century Dodos I wanted to commemorate the many inanimate objects, experiences and, well, other things that many of us grew up with but which are either extinct or very much on the way out. Of course, most of these are victims of the eternal march of progress, and that is only to be expected, but it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t mark their passing and bid them a fond farewell.

      I was heartened by the reaction to the first edition of the book. I was emailed, tweeted and Facebooked (that’s not a word, is it?) by hundreds of people who wanted to share their thoughts and memories of some of the dodos included. I also received six photographs of white dog poo. Who said a writer’s life wasn’t glamorous?

      But most enjoyable of all were the dozens of suggestions for dodos I had missed, and I am delighted to say that I have included as many of these as I could in the new Readers’ Dodos section of this edition. Even more content for less money. I hope you are suitably grateful.

      Every entry in this book is given a dodo rating of between one and five dodos. This indicates their rarity, ranging from one dodo (still quite common) to five dodos (completely extinct). No doubt some readers will want to argue with me about the ratings I have allocated each item. Feel free, I love a good scrap. You can email me at [email protected].

      STEVE STACK

      October 2012

AT THE CUTTING EDGE OF TECHNOLOGY Crushed beneath the wheels of progress …