Strangest Book Title Award
Updated : Mar 30, 2009
A book on the future of fromage frais pots has won the award for the strangest title of the year.
The 2009-2014 World Outlook for 60-milligram Containers of Fromage Frais by Professor Philip M Parker scooped The Diagram Prize. Baboon Metaphysics by Dorothy L Cheney and Robert M Seyfarth came second, while Curbside Consultation of the Colon by Brooks D Cash was third.
Previous winners of the annual prize, run by the Bookseller magazine, include How to S**t In The Woods: An Environmentally Sound Approach to a Lost Art, Bombproof Your Horse, and People Who Don't Know They're Dead: How They Attach Themselves To Unsuspecting Bystanders And What To Do About It.
Horace Bent, who runs the competition, said: "The fact that this book has been crowned the winner just goes to show how creative and diverse the publishing world is today. And, perhaps, how important a copy editor is." The organisers came up with a short list of six titles, which was then put to a vote on the internet.
Mr Bent said he had expected a more vulgar title to win as voters had previously plumped for the likes of Living With Crazy Buttocks and If You Want Closure In Your Relationship, Start With Your Legs.
"But I'm thrilled that the public steered clear of smut and bestowed the 'odd title' crown on Prof Parker's worthy winner, and turned the supermarket chiller into the Petri dish of literary innovation," he said.
Philip Stone, from the Bookseller, said the winner was a "fitting champion".
He said: "What does the future hold for these items? Well, given that fromage frais normally comes in 60-gram containers, not 60-milligram, one would assume that the world outlook for 0.06-gram containers of fromage frais is pretty bleak. But I'm not willing to pay £795 to find out."
VeryHappyPig says jaysus, they will give an award for anything these days!
