Habit

Some people collect Victorian hatpins. Others accumulate matchbooks. Mel Poretz, 60, is a compulsive collector of useless information. He knows exactly how many steps there are in his Merrick, N.Y., split-level home (21). As a child he knew how many stars surrounded the mountain peak in the Paramount Pictures logo (26 originally, now just 22). And like many people who are happy in their jobs, he has found a way to put his obsession to work.

Poretz and fellow marketing executive Barry Sinrod have published The First Really Important Survey of American Habits (Price Stern Sloan, $4.95), a really important book for people who want to know what percentage of Americans rolls the toilet paper over the spool (68%) or what portion actually eats the fortune cookie (79%). Habits sold out immediately and is sprinting through its second printing toward a third. "It's a silly, funny, not-to-be-taken- seriousl y book," says Sinrod, a funny, not-to-be-taken-seriously fellow. He and Poretz mailed out questionnaires to a cross section of 25,000 Americans, of whom 7,000 took the trouble to answer. The survey asked respondents about eating, sleeping, dressing and mating habits, as well as skills and eccentricities. Can they whistle by putting their fingers in their mouths? (Eighty-three percent cannot.) Do they like the way they look in the nude? (Fifty-nine percent do not.) Some responses stretch credibility (70% said they had no unmatched socks in their drawers). Others reaffirm intractable vices (72% squeeze the toothpaste tube from the top).

Students of the American character will find plenty to chew on here, since the intrusive survey asks its recipients how old they were when they first made love (51% were under 18); whether they look behind the shower curtain or door when using someone else's bathroom (7% do); whether, if they found a diamond ring, they would attempt to locate the owner (79% would); and whether they eat corn on the cob side to side or in circles (for those who can't wait to find out, fully 80% eat it in circles).

And one last silly question: Now that Habits is such a success, how long will it take Poretz and Sinrod to come out with Habits II and Habits III?