Bookseller/Diagram Prize for the Oddest Title of the Year

To be considered the titles must not be purposefully odd. In fact these are very serious authors writing earnestly in their, often, very specific fields. Rather than being offended by this prize (which is a magnum of champagne or a bottle of claret), the authors are usually happy to have the recognition and the added publicity.

Some past winners are (and the titles explain the subject matter):

The Book of Marmalade: Its Antecedents, Its History, and Its Role in the World Today;

How to Avoid Huge Ships; and

Reusing Old Graves: A Report on Popular British Attitudes.

In the library’s collection you will find the following winners:

The Joy of Chickens by Dennis Nolan
How to S**t In the Woods: an environmentally sound approach to a lost art by Kathleen Meyer
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
The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: a guide to field identification by Julian Montague
If You Want Closure in Your Relationship, Start With Your Legs by “Big Boom”