The Bookseller magazine Friday announced the winner of the 28th annual Diagram Prize for Oddest Title. Bookseller deputy editor Joel Rickett appeared on Weekend Edition Saturday with the news, saying, as he did in a Telegraph story on the matter: “It has been a pretty good year for strange titles.”
The winner is 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, but the list of nominees and near nominees included
- Bullying and Sexual Harrassment: A Practical Handbook
- Rhino Horn Stockpile Management: Minimum Standards and Best Practices from East and Southern Africa
- Ancient Starch Research
- Soil Nailing: Best Practice Guidance
- Nessus, Snort and Ethereal Power Tools
- Urogenital Manipulation (a near nominee)
- Dining Posture in Ancient Rome (a near nominee)
- Circumcisions by Appointment (a near nominee)
- The Assessment of Impact Damage Caused by Dropped Objects on Concrete Offshore Structures (disqualified)
- Adult Swallowing (disqualified)
Past winners include Greek Rural Postmen and Their Cancellation Numbers and Bombproof Your Horse. An update at Stromata notes that this year’s winning publisher says “it welcomes the publicity and is considering following up with titles such as People Who Don’t Know They’re Stupid, which will be able to find many examples among the sufferers from Bush Derangement Syndrome.”