Never judge a book by its cover, judge it by its title

The world of odd book titles is wonderful to behold, writes Dick Skellington.

There are book titles – take The Communist Manifesto for example – which do exactly what they say on the cover. And there are book titles like Cooking with Poo and Estonian Sock Patterns All Around The World which, however you look at them, seem to exist solely to prevent the books being sold in great numbers. Or do they?

For every good book title there are some really bad choices out there. The author trade magazine, The Bookseller, holds an annual competition for those titles you wished would go away. You have to wonder why some of these titles were chosen, but some of them may end up as classics of the genre.

Take your pick from the good and the bad. Here are some contenders for the silliest book title of the past two years.

The Great Singapore Penis Panic and the Future of American Hysteria by Scott D. Mendelson. A Taxonomy of Office Chairs by Jonathan Olivares. Testicle Balls in Cooking and Culture by Blandine Vie. Cooking with Poo by Saiyuud Diwong. The Adult Spanking and Discipline Handbook: a Comprehensive Guide to Corporal Punishment by governess Gemma Forbes. Estonian Sock Patterns All Around the World by Aino Praaki. A Century of Sand Dredging in the Bristol Channel: Volume 2: The Welsh Coast by Peter Gosson. And The Erotic Rissole by Tanveer Ahmed.

Cooking with Poo won the previous year. But what would win the 2012 accolade? You might find some clues in past winners to guide your choice. These include The Big Book of Lesbian Horse Stories, Greek Rural Postmen and Their Cancellation Numbers, Highlights in the History of Concrete, Bombproof Your Horse and from 1992, a vintage year it seems, the unforgettable How to Avoid Huge Ships. But perhaps the greatest clue to the 2012 winner, announced on 22 March, can be found in the title of a previous prestigious winner, The Joy of Chickens.

The winner of this year's Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year is Goblinproofing one's chicken coop by Reginald Bakeley. Goblinproofing faced very stiff competition from, among other titles, Was Hitler Ill? by Hans-Joachim Neumann and Henrik Eberle; Lofts of North America by Jerry Gagne; God’s Doodle: The Life and Times of the Penis by Tom Hickman; How Tea Cosies Changed the World by Loani; and How to Sharpen Pencils by David Rees.

Had I been on the panel I think I would have gone for a shortlist of How tea cosies changed the world, How to sharpen pencils, and God's Doodle. But I am sure your choices would be just as inspired. My personal favourite of all the above titles is Estonian Sock Patterns All Around The World.

However, Goblinproofing, which gives valuable advice on how to protect chickens from fairies and banish the fairies from your home, won convincingly with 38 per cent of the judges' votes.

Cartoon showing chicken owner shooing away fairy

The title is everything, according to the Diagram Prize administrator Philip Stone. He explained the prize spotlights an undervalued art that can make or break a work of literature.

"Books such as A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time all owe a sizeable part of their huge successes to their odd monikers."

Having once written a book which bombed at the bookseller called Minority Group Housing in Bedford, I think he has a point.
Dick Skellington 1 May 2013

The views expressed in this post, as in all posts on Society Matters, are the views of the author, not The Open University.

Cartoons by Gary Edwards and Catherine Pain

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About Society Matters

Provocative, relevant, current: for the last decade Society Matters magazine has been informing, engaging and annoying social sciences students in equal measure. Now, its move online has given us the chance to bring its lively mix of analysis and opinion to a wider audience.

Society Matters online started in October 2010 and has, so far, covered a wide range of issues and topics ranging from inequality and the big society to arms sales and foreign policy. All can be seen by scrolling down from the top of the Society Matters front page.

We have also illustrated many of these posts with the work of our two illustrators (see below). Serious analyses have been interspersed with posts on a less weighty issues which show both human folly and innovation.

Society Matters continues to be edited by its original creator, Dick Skellington. Dick, pictured above, was previously a programme manager in the social sciences faculty, walks the talk through an active involvement in the affairs of his home town of Stony Stratford, Bucks, and finds light relief through writing poetry and the occasional stage appearance in local productions.

Since many years at the coalface of journalism have taught us all that sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words Dick is aided and abetted by resident illustrators, Gary Edwards and Catherine Pain – both former OU students.

Catherine has drawn and painted all her life, and when she is not pillorying public figures for Society Matters paints animal portraits, works in stained glass and produces alphabet teaching posters for children. Her work is in several galleries in and around her current home in Cambridgeshire and her publications include an illustrated cookbook sold on behalf of the National Trust, a colouring book for small children, Alphabet for Colouring, and The Lost Children, a story for older children. Her website is at catherinepain.co.uk

Gary has written two best-selling books about his travels all over the world watching Leeds United FC, Paint it White and Leeds United - The Second Coat. His third title No Glossing Over will be published by Mainstream in September 2011. He has not missed a Leeds game anywhere in the world since February 1968 and married his wife Lesley at Elland Road.

Specialising in wall murals, Gary also holds diplomas from the London Art College, The Morris College of Journalism, has a Diploma in Freelance Cartooning and Illustration and is a contributing cartoonist for Speakeasy, an English-speaking magazine in Paris. During the 1970's and 1980's he collected hearses and is a long time member of the Official Flat Earth Society as well as the Clay Pigeon Preservation Society.

Please note: The opinions expressed in Society Matters posts are those of the individual authors, and do not represent the views of The Open University.