02 March 2009

31st Diagram Prize shortlist announced

I know I’m a bit late in reporting this but The Bookseller Magazine has announced its shortlist for the 31st Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year of the strangest book titles published this year.

The shortlisted titles are:

* Baboon Metaphysics by Dorothy Dorothy L Cheney and Robert M Seyfarth (University of Chicago Press)

* Curbside Consultation of the Colon by Brooks D Cash (SLACK Incorporated)

* The Large Sieve and its Applications by Emmanuel Kowalski (Cambridge University Press)

* Strip and Knit with Style by Mark Hordyszynski (C&T)

* Techniques for Corrosion Monitoring by Lietai Yang (Woodhead)

* The 2009-2014 World Outlook for 60-milligram Containers of Fromage Frais by Professor Philip M Parker (Icon Group International) click here for an earlier post on this literary titan

The winner will be chosen by an internet vote at the Bookseller website and will be announced on 27 March. The winner will join such august company as High Performance Stiffened Structures, Bombproof Your Horse, Lesbian Sadomasochism Safety Manual and last year’s winner If You Want Closure in Your Relationship, Start with Your Legs

Horace Bent, from the magazine said: "In this, the 31st year of the prestigious award, never have I found it so problematic to pick a shortlist of just six. Given the economic gloom, I would not have blamed publishers if they'd decided to slash their lists. But it gives me great pleasure to report that diversity lives!"

Sales Analyst at The Bookseller, Philip Stone said: "We received a huge number of entries this year and the debate was furious as to which would be included on the shortlist. Six seems such a cruelly low number given titles such as Excrement in the Late Middle Ages and All Dogs Have ADHD were rejected. We also had to exclude a few titles because they were published before 2008including Monumental Beginnings: Archaeology of the N4 Sligo Inner Relief Road.

I await the outcome with bated breath.

13 comments:

Maddy said...

It would seem that diversity flourishes despite the economic slump [or maybe because of!]
Cheers

Claude said...

Are those books really printed? As a contribution to the betterment of mankind? I guess we should laugh...I'll present my book next year: "Thoughts: Hemorrhage of uncauterized brain emissions."

Hope you're recovering well.:)

jams o donnell said...

It certainly looks that way Maddy

They are real book Claudia.. Get it published and you must be in with a shout next year!

RobW said...

Curbside Consultation of the Colon -- Sounds like the most interesting book to me.

But then I don't really read many modern books for some reason. It's almost I don't trust them -- wierd.

Sean Jeating said...

My friend Tetrapilotomos is optimistic to get his monumental work (volume: 1,669 pages) published this year. Title: 'Pre-Assyrian Philately in a Nutshell'.

elasticwaistbandlady said...

Good. I was running out of reading material in the magazine rack strategically positioned next to the crapper.

James Higham said...

Strip and knit seems the go.

Liz Hinds said...

Excrement in the Late Middle Ages was just renamed Curbside Consultations of the Colon, that's all. It's all very well Mr Kowalski writing about the large sieve but has he considered colanders?

Colanders versus sieves: the ongoing debate as to the relative merits of size over convenience of kitchen utensils in the early twenty-first century and does anyone care?

jams o donnell said...

That's the titke I kije most too TBR

I will pre-order a copy forthwith Sean!

WEll there you go EWBL plenty of great reading for you to peruse in the Khazi

Nude knitting is a good one James

That is a burning question Liz, I am sure that you could do a wonderful book with a strange title!

SnoopyTheGoon said...

"Curbside Consultation of the Colon" - it really boggles one's mind to think how far the science is taking us!

jams o donnell said...

Perhaps it entails putting proctologists on vespas!

A Free Man said...

I heard a podcast about this last week, great titles. My favorite: "Curbside Consultation of the Colon"!

jams o donnell said...

It's mine too AFM!