Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Weird Books Wednesday

LONDON (AFP) - Industry magazine The Bookseller has opened voting for the oddest book title of the year, some of which suggest that nothing is stranger than non-fiction. Readers of the magazine's website www.thebookseller.com are being invited to vote on a shortlist of six non-fiction books in its annual Diagram Prize for the Oddest Title of the Year. The nominations are made by publishers, booksellers and librarians from around the world. The nominees are:

-- "Tattooed Mountain Women and Spoon Boxes of Daghestan" (Sounds like a forking good read!)

-- "How Green Were the Nazis?" (Sequel is 'How Fascist is My Valley?')

-- "D. Di Mascio's Delicious Ice Cream: D. Di Mascio of Coventry -- An Ice Cream Company of Repute, with an Interesting and Varied Fleet of Ice Cream Vans" (Now I love ice cream, but this book sounds like a heartbreaking work of staggering boredom)

-- "The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide to Field Identification" (I want to see this turned into a Monty Python sketch. This I'd pay to see.)

-- "Proceedings of the Eighteenth International Seaweed Symposium" (Why do I see this being presided over by Ben Stein in character from 'Ferris Beuller's Day Off?')

-- "Better Never To Have Been: The Harm of Coming Into Existence" (Subtitle: 'No Entrance?')

Joel Rickert, deputy editor of The Bookseller, told BBC radio Friday: "It's the only literary prize where the content of the book doesn't matter a jot. (Alright! I've got a shot at this!) "So, there's still hope for Salman Rushdie or Martin Amis if they're worried about the Booker (prize). All they've got to do is give their books an odd title and they're in with a shot."

Last year's winner was "People Who Don't Know They're Dead: How They Attach Themselves To Unsuspecting Bystanders and What to Do About it" by Gary Leon Hill. (Gees, and that mariner thought it was bad enough lugging a dead albatross around! Of course, I think we could all tell of dates we've endured that might make this book.)

The competition has been running since 1978, when the winner was "Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude Mice". (I really do NOT want to imagine what sort of people would preside over and attend such a workshop.....)

Ok folks. Feel free to add your own submissions, real or imagined, in the comments.

17 comments:

G-Man said...

Michelle? Is this a new 'Theme'? I don't remember this for Wednesday before...
How about "Tie Dye The Beloved Country"?
" To Live and Tie Dye In L.A."...
I'll be back!! G

Sheri said...

very odd names! I've never heard any stranger so I can't add anything.

Weird!

KFarmer said...

LOL!! I've got one and had planned on posting it today :)

Mustafa Şenalp said...

TRKEY/ KAYSERİ

Anonymous said...

Wheelchair Swingers..an expose of swinging in nursing homes.

Mouse in my pocket..a geek's look into wireless technology.
tc

word verification dirkmah
sounds like some type of middle eastern headwear or Indian porn star.

Doo Dah said...

-- "The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide to Field Identification" (I want to see this turned into a Monty Python sketch. This I'd pay to see.)

I am snorting laughing at the thought of a MP eppi as this.......

DaMasta said...

Don't worry Limerz, ALL mice are nude! I'd think it strange if they were wearing clothes! ;)

Unknown said...

Hee hee...those are hilarious.

Rob said...

Frankly, ALL my mountain women are tattooed! Wouldn't have them any other way! ;-)

But, what the hell are "spoon boxes" -- and where the hell is Daghestan??!

Now, what about that classic: "Trini Girls Gone Wild -- and the Awesome Hair That Made Them That Way!"

Or, "When You Told Me to Go Suck a Lime, Were You Mad at Me or Just Glad to See Me?"

Leave it to the Brits to come up with one of the most obscure concepts for a contest (but it DID give you an interesting topic for a blog post)!

Anonymous said...

Oh man, it's all in the title isn't it? It's all marketing and it's all in the title. I would be very interested in the sales numbers from these books.

"Proceedings of the Eighteenth International Seaweed Symposium"!! That is amazing! There was a symposium? And people attended? And it was such a hit, they wrote a book so people could really pore over what was said? And there were seventeen symposiums prior to this one? Wow.

lecram sinun said...

LMAO! Too funny. I actually used to have a friend of mine title my plays.

Even had a short musical about the dinosaur extinction called "No Bones About It"

AndyT13 said...

Bizarre! And bonus points for telling off the Trini PMs wife. Having been on the recieving end of that brutally honest flyswatter I can safely say that if nothing else you made her think. Love ya!

Kelly said...

I have a new one to add: Being Dead is No Excuse: The Official Southern Ladies Guide to Hosting the Perfect Funeral (Hardcover)

airplanejayne said...

I think I went to the 1st Nude Mouse International workshop! It was "How to avoid Freefalling Nekkid Rats - and other perils of skydiving."

te-hee!

Anonymous said...

I love Rob's Trini Girls Gone Wild
LMAO.

(M)ary said...

I vote for: "The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide to Field Identification"


This could be a fun hobby.

wmy said...

How about..."the life of the not-so-seaworthy Seamonkey"