Or what's in a title?
I have always wanted to write a book called ‘Tap dancing my
way to social ridicule’. I think it could be my autobiography. For those of us
who have thought long and hard over titles you might like to consider entering
a competition for The Diagram Prize, an award for the oddest title of a
published novel.
At some point in the bar at the Frankfurt Bookfair in 1978
Bruce Robertson must have been in that post Prosecco haze and thought 'wouldn’t
it be good to have an award for the most odd book title ever seen?' Fortunately for us, he voiced that opinion out loud and the Diagram Prize was
born. The inaugural winner was called ‘Proceedings of the second international
workshop on nude mice’.
Nude mice? I wonder if there was a workshop for the international
best dressed mouse would it be wearing moleskin?
The diagram prize is now run
by The Bookseller magazine and the winner receives no money but is rumoured to
win a ‘passable bottle of claret’.
In 2015 the winner was a book called ‘Strangers have the
best candy’ by Margaret Meps Schulte. It’s a nice little book written by a lady
who travels everywhere on her own and makes a point of having very long
conversations with every stranger she meets. I think she used to travel with me
on the number 12 bus from Peckham to Trafalgar Square.
It won
over a book called ‘Nature’s nether regions’ (which I think is a history of
genitalia) by Menno Schilthuizen. I think he used to sit beside me on the bus as
well. Alongside that was the much more sensibly titled ‘Where do camels belong’
by Ken Thompson. I do wonder whether the author got the hump when he didn’t
win.
I have been doddering round the internet and here are some beauties from
previous years:
‘The mad woman in the Volvo: my year of raging hormones’ by
Sandra Tsing-Loh. This was a memoir of a menopausal woman. Just how brave was
the guy who phoned her to tell her that she had not won.
‘Divorcing a real witch: for pagans and the people that
used to love them’. Well I guess that some of us must fall in love with pagans
and probably fall out of love with them again.
The Bookseller magazine's Tom Tivnan is relieved that this
year the titles have moved towards engaging and odd rather than smutty and odd.
Historical winners do sound like books that would feature in Carry On films. ‘How to poo on a date’,’Cooking with poo’ and ‘If you want closure in a
relationship start with your legs’.
Some titles are odd but interesting, such as ‘The ugly wife
is treasured at home’ by Melissa Margaret Schneider which is an expose of love
and sex under Maoist rule in China. I think I'd read that.
One I might struggle with is a book edited by Bo Tian; ‘Advanced pavement research: selected, peer reviewed papers from the
third international conference on concrete pavement design construction and
rehabilitation’.
The 2014 winner was called ‘Goblinproofing’, but I think the
real title is ‘Goblinproofing the henhouse.’ It got 39% of the online vote. It
is written by Reginald Bakeley and it gives you practical advice on how to
banish fairies from your home. Horace Bent said that Goblinproofing the
Chicken coup was ‘an extremely important work regarding the best way to
protect one’s fowl from the fairy realms most bothersome creatures. Everyone
knows well the hazards that dogs, cats and foxes hold for the owners of
chickens, not to mention red mite. But the public has recognised the need to
illuminate this hitherto under reported nuisance. I take this as a clear sign
that people have had enough of goblins in their chicken coups our campaign
against the fairy kingdom continues’.
Other titles shortlisted were ‘How to sharpen pencils’, ‘Was
Hitler ill?’ and ‘The lofts of North America; pigeon lofts’.
Previous winners
include ‘Greek rural postmen and their cancellation numbers’, ‘Highlights in
the history of concrete’ (just how short was that book????) and ‘How to bomb proof
your horse’.
I did find a wonderful headline while researching this; ‘Managing a
dental practice the Ghengis Khan way’ by Michael Young. The mind boggles.
A previous winner of the prize saw the sales sore by 1500%
within a month of winning. So if you haven’t read ‘Crocheting adventures with
hyperbolic planes’, then think what you are missing out on.
I rather fancy the
title ‘What colour is your dog?’ or ‘The Italians one night love child’, what
about ‘The myth of the social volcano’, or ‘The generosity of the dead’.
For sheer tittersome amusement a previous winner has the
title ‘The big book of lesbian horse stories’ and my own personal favourite ‘Living
with crazy buttocks’. The year the Goblinproofing won it beat ‘How tea cosies
changed the world’ and a book called ‘Gods doodle: the life and times of the
penis’.
The founder of the award does make a serious point. Books
such as ‘A short history of tractors in the Ukraine’, ‘The Guernsey literary
and potato pie society’ and of course ‘The curious incident of the dog in the
night time’ all owe part of their success to their odd titles.
What about a
book called ‘Too naked for the Nazi’s’ by Alan Stafford which is a biography of
a music hall troupe, ‘Soviet bus stops' and 'Reading from behind: a culture
history of the anus’.
‘Reading the liver: papyrological texts on Ancient Greek Extispicy’ by William Furley and Victor Gysembergh is an academic study on
sacrificial sheep. How about ‘Paper
folding with children’ by Alice Hornecke which is origami for children not
using children.
I am keeping the best till last though. Horace Bent says
this book title is not only a trenchant examination of a cult film but would be
an excellent theme for a fancy dress party. The book title is ‘Transvestite
vampire biker nuns from outer space’.
I need to go now and Goblinproof my henhouse!
Caro 04/03/2016
