Hidden in the Index

I love to discover hidden things. When I was in elementary school I loved the Encyclopedia Brown stories. I wanted a real detective's magnifying glass so that I could comb our house and yard for clues. I didn't care what kind of clues they were, just as long as they were clues to something. I would find broken or lost toys and begin imagining how they might have gotten lost....

Well, I was delighted, to say the least, to stumble over the following post by Dan Reid over at Addenda & Errata, the IVP blog.

The Joy of Indexing

Indexing is a laborious task that comes at the end of the book-writing process. Often authors are working with a small window of time, under the pressure of a looming deadline. I think some authors are so tired of the book at this point that they wonder why they ever decided to take it on. Moments of wishing the book would just go away are mixed with moments of excitement at the prospect of seeing it published. At times they are probably so doped up on caffeine that they’ll put anything into the index, including a few jokes for their readers.

Here are a couple of joking indexers...(read on)

After reading this article I jumped up and retrieved my copy of E. P. Sanders' Paul and Palestinian Judaism. I couldn't believe my eyes. This was GREAT!!!

I must admit that I'm now looking through other book indexes for hidden secrets. Where did I put that magnifying glass?

Let me know if you know of any other examples. This is GREAT!

Hidden in the Index