Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year

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The Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year
Greek Rural Postmen and Their Cancellation Numbers edited by Derek Willan, the winner of the 1996 Diagram Prize and the winner of the special "Diagram of Diagrams" prize in 2008.
Awarded for Oddest book title
Country United Kingdom
First awarded 1978
Last awarded 2009
Official Website http://www.thebookseller.com/Diagram+Prize

The Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year, also known as the Diagram Prize, is a humorous literary award that is given annually to the book with the oddest title. The prize is named after the Diagram Group, an information and graphics company based in London,[1] and The Bookseller, a British literary magazine.[2][3] Originally organised to provide entertainment during the 1978 Frankfurt Book Fair,[1] the prize has since been awarded every year by The Bookseller and is now organised by the magazine's diarist Horace Bent.[2][3] The winner was at first decided by a panel of judges, but since 2000 the winner has been decided by a public vote on The Bookseller's website.[4]

Since the creation of the awards, there has been controversy. There have been two occasions when no award was given because no titles were judged to be odd enough,[4] Bent has complained about some of the winners chosen by the public,[5][6] and the latest winner, The 2009-2014 World Outlook for 60-milligram Containers of Fromage Frais, proved controversial because rather than being written by its listed author, Philip M. Parker, it was instead written by a machine of Parker's invention.[7]

Contents

[edit] History

Although the award was created by The Bookseller, the idea of an award celebrating books with odd titles was proposed by publisher Bruce Robertson, co-founder of the Diagram Group, to provide entertainment during the Frankfurt Book Fair in 1978. From the early 1980s, Horace Bent, diarist for The Bookseller, took over administrative duties.[2][3] The Diagram Prize receives a considerable amount of press coverage every year.[8] In 2008, more people voted for the Diagram Prize (8,500 votes) than The Best of Booker Prize (7,800).[9][10] The prize is either a magnum of champagne or a bottle of claret for the person who spots the winning title,[8] and increased publicity for both the book and its author.[11]

[edit] Format

Nominees were originally selected from submissions sent in by The Bookseller magazine's traditional readership of librarians, publishers, and booksellers, although in recent years members of the public have submitted nominations as the prize has gained notoriety. People cannot nominate their own works, nor can they select books they publish themselves. Titles which are deliberately created to be funny are normally rejected.[12] The winner was originally voted for by a panel of judges, but since 2000 the winner has been voted for by members of the public via the Internet. Bent resisted this move and threatened to resign, but he later changed his mind and now creates the short list of finalists.[4] In 2009, Bent began to invite people to send in nominations to his Twitter account,[13] and claimed that it proved so successful, he was on target to receive the largest number of nominations in the history of the prize.[14]

[edit] Books about the Prize

In September 2008, a book about the Diagram Prize was published by Aurum Press entitled How to Avoid Huge Ships and Other Implausibly Titled Books. With an introduction written by Joel Rickett, the book was released to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the prize. It featured a collection of book covers from winners and runners-up from previous years.[15] A follow-up book is to be released in October 2009, entitled Baboon Metaphysics And More Implausibly Titled Books and with an introduction by Bent.[16]

[edit] Winners

[edit] Controversy

So far, there have been two occasions in which no award has been presented. Bent did not offer a prize in 1987 and 1991 as he felt there was no title that was odd enough to deserve the prize.[4] The prize has become noteworthy enough that in 2004, The Bookseller castigated publishers for choosing titles with a view to winning it, saying, "There were too many self-consciously titled entries — presumably in a bid to emulate the 2003 champion, Big Book of Lesbian Horse Stories".[5] Bent has also expressed his dislike of people voting for ruder titles saying that he himself would not have voted for the 2007 winner, If You Want Closure in Your Relationship, Start with Your Legs.[6]

In 2009, the choice of The 2009-2014 World Outlook for 60-milligram Containers of Fromage Frais as winner of the 2008 award was controversial as Parker did not write the book himself but used an automated authoring machine which produces thousands of titles on the basis of internet and database searches.[7] Philip Stone, charts editor and awards administrator at The Bookseller, commented by saying: "I think it's slightly controversial as it was written by a computer, but given the number of celebrity memoirs out there that are ghostwritten, I don't think it's too strange."[17]

[edit] Diagram of Diagrams

Two special anniversary awards known as the "Diagram of Diagrams" (the name reflects the "Booker of Bookers")[1] have been presented to honour both the 15th and the 30th anniversaries of the Diagram Prize. The nominations of the prizes were all of the previous winners up to that point in time. In 1993, the winner of the 15th anniversary award was Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude Mice, the winner of the first Diagram Prize.[5][18] The second "Diagram of Diagrams", announced on 5 September 2008, was Greek Rural Postmen and Their Cancellation Numbers, the 1996 winner.[18]

[edit] List

The following is a list of previous winners of the award.[9]

Year Title Author/Editor Publisher Notes
1978 Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude Mice Various authors University of Tokyo Press Studies on uses of furless laboratory mice.[19]
1979 The Madam as Entrepreneur: Career Management in House Prostitution Barbara Sherman Heyl Transaction Press About working in prostitution.
1980 The Joy of Chickens Dennis Nolan Prentice Hall About breeds of chicken.[20]
1981 Last Chance at Love - Terminal Romances Various authors Pinnacle Press
1982 Population and Other Problems: Family Planning, Housing 1,000 million, Labour Employment Various authors China National Publications About the demographics of the People's Republic of China.
1983 The Theory of Lengthwise Rolling A. I. Tselikov, G. S. Nikitin and S. E. Rokotyan Mir Publishers About rolling as a metalworking technique.
1984 The Book of Marmalade: Its Antecedents, Its History, and Its Role in the World Today Anne Wilson Constable About the history of marmalade.[21]
1985 Natural Bust Enlargement with Total Power: How to Increase the other 90% of Your Mind to Increase the Size of Your Breasts Donald L. Wilson Westwood Publishing Company About bust enlargement through positive thinking.[22]
1986 Oral Sadism and the Vegetarian Personality Glenn C. Ellenbogen Brunner/Mazel Humorous and parody articles about psychiatry.[23]
1987 No Award
1988 Versailles: The View From Sweden Elaine Dee and Guy Walton University of Chicago Press Catalogue of an exhibition at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum on the influence of French Baroque and Classicism on design in contemporary Sweden.[24]
1989 How to Shit in the Woods: An Environmentally Sound Approach to a Lost Art Kathleen Meyer Ten Speed Press About responsible treatment of one's human waste in wilderness areas.[25]
1990 Lesbian Sadomasochism Safety Manual Pat Califia Lace Publications A guide to BDSM and safe sex.[26]
1991 No Award
1992 How to Avoid Huge Ships John W. Trimmer Cornwell Maritime Press Advice to pleasure boat sailors on the dangers of shipping lanes.[1]
1993 American Bottom Archaeology Charles J. Bareis and James W. Porter University of Illinois Press Full title American Bottom Archaeology: A Summary of the FAI-270 Project Contribution to the Culture History of the Mississippi River Valley.[27]
1994 Highlights in the History of Concrete C. C. Stanley British Cement Association About the history of concrete.[28]
1995 Reusing Old Graves: A Report on Popular British Attitudes Douglas Davies and Alastair Shaw Shaw & Son About reusing old graves.[29]
1996 Greek Rural Postmen and Their Cancellation Numbers Derek Willan Hellenic Philatelic Society Cancellation numbers in the Hellenic Post.[30]
1997 The Joy of Sex: Pocket Edition Alex Comfort Mitchell Beazley Pocket edition of The Joy of Sex.
1998 Developments in Dairy Cow Breeding: New Opportunities to Widen the Use of Straw Gareth Williams Nuffield Farming Scholarship Trust
1999 Weeds in a Changing World: British Crop Protection Council Symposium Proceedings No. 64 Charles H. Stirton British Crop Protection Council
2000 High Performance Stiffened Structures IMechE (Institution of Mechanical Engineers) Professional Engineering Publishing About stiffness in engineering.
2001 Butterworths Corporate Manslaughter Service Gerard Forlin Butterworths About corporate manslaughter, i.e. corporate liability for manslaughter.
2002 Living with Crazy Buttocks Kaz Cooke Penguin US/Australia Humorous essays on contemporary culture, including female body image and other topics.[31]
2003 The Big Book of Lesbian Horse Stories Alisa Surkis and Monica Nolan Kensington Publishing Eight stories in a pastiche of dime novel styles from different decades, each involving lesbian romance and horses.[32]
2004 Bombproof Your Horse Rick Pelicano and Lauren Tjaden J A Allen Full title Bombproof Your Horse: Teach Your Horse to Be Confident, Obedient, and Safe, No Matter What You Encounter.[33]
2005 People Who Don't Know They're Dead: How They Attach Themselves to Unsuspecting Bystanders and What to Do About It Gary Leon Hill Red Wheel/Weiser Books About dead spirits who took up residence in bodies that did not belong to them.[34]
2006 The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide to Field Identification Julian Montague Harry N. Abrams About how to identify abandoned shopping carts.[35]
2007 If You Want Closure in Your Relationship, Start with Your Legs "Big Boom" Simon & Schuster US A self-help book written by a man for the benefit of women.[11]
2008 The 2009-2014 World Outlook for 60-milligram Containers of Fromage Frais Philip M. Parker Icon Group International Computer-generated combination of boilerplate text and public-domain data.[7]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

General
Specific
  1. ^ a b c d Lyall, Sarah (27 March, 2009). "Odd Prize: Judging a Book by Its Title". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/28/books/28contest.html?bl&ex=1238299200&en=40ab6d677c5bac74&ei=5087%0A. Retrieved 28 March, 2009. 
  2. ^ a b c Rickett, Joel (1 September, 2008). How to Avoid Huge Ships and Other Implausibly Titled Books. London: Aurum Press. p. 6–7. ISBN 978-1-84513-321-4. 
  3. ^ a b c "Diagram book for Xmas". The Bookseller. 28 March, 2008. http://www.thebookseller.com/news/55684-diagram-book-for-xmas.html. Retrieved 28 March, 2008. 
  4. ^ a b c d Rickett, p. 9
  5. ^ a b c Ezard, John (21 January 2005). "Bombproof Your Horse wins title fight". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2005/jan/21/books.booksnews. Retrieved 2009-03-30. 
  6. ^ a b Bent, Horace (12 January, 2009). "An odd question". The Bookseller. http://www.thebookseller.com/in-depth/feature/78027-an-odd-question.html. Retrieved 28 March, 2009. 
  7. ^ a b c "Fromage Frais wins odd title prize". The Bookseller. 27 March, 2009. http://www.thebookseller.com/news/81144-fromage-frais-wins-odd-title-prize.html. Retrieved 27 March, 2009. 
  8. ^ a b Rickett, p. 10
  9. ^ a b "More odd than odd". The Bookseller. 7 August, 2008. http://www.thebookseller.com/in-depth/feature/64672-more-odd-than-odd.html. Retrieved 28 March, 2009. 
  10. ^ "Midnight's Children wins Best of the Booker". The Man Booker Prize. 10 July, 2008. http://www.themanbookerprize.com/news/stories/1099. Retrieved 28 March, 2009. 
  11. ^ a b "Oddest book titles prize shortlist announced". The Bookseller. 22 February, 2008. http://www.thebookseller.com/news/53656-oddest-book-titles-prize-shortlist-announced.html. Retrieved 24 February, 2008. 
  12. ^ Rickett, p. 7
  13. ^ Bent, Horace (19 May, 2009). "HoraceBent". Twitter. http://twitter.com/HoraceBent/status/1845497876. Retrieved 19 May, 2009. 
  14. ^ Bent, Horace (8 July, 2009). "HoraceBent". Twitter. http://twitter.com/HoraceBent/status/2530320693. Retrieved 29 July, 2009. 
  15. ^ "Oddest title is crowned". The Bookseller. 28 March, 2008. http://www.thebookseller.com/news/55684-oddest-title-is-crowned.html. Retrieved 31 August, 2009. 
  16. ^ (pdf) Aurum Press Catalogue: Autumn 2009. London: Aurum Press. 2009. p. 19. http://www.aurumpress.co.uk/pdf/Aurum%20autumn%2009%20lo.pdf. 
  17. ^ Flood, Alison (27 March, 2009). "Oddest Book Title prize goes to treatise on fromage frais". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/mar/27/oddest-book-title-prize-fromage-frais. Retrieved 27 March, 2009. 
  18. ^ a b "Greek Postman wins Diagram of Diagrams". The Bookseller. 5 September, 2008. http://www.thebookseller.com/news/66454-greek-postman-wins-diagram-of-diagrams.html. Retrieved 5 September, 2008. 
  19. ^ Klein, Jen; Geib, Rob; Wernet, Dorothee (8 July, 2005). "Book Reviews". Immunogenetics. http://www.springerlink.com/content/v531723021376j02/. Retrieved 30 March, 2009. 
  20. ^ "Mantex Newsletter - Issue 35". Mantex.co.. October 2000. http://www.mantex.co.uk/news/news-35.htm. Retrieved 9th October, 2009. 
  21. ^ Rickett, p. 38-39
  22. ^ Rickett, p. 88-89
  23. ^ Bent, Horace (8th October, 2009). Baboon Metaphysics and Other Implausibly Titled Books. London: Aurum Press. pp. 16–17. ISBN 9781845134983. 
  24. ^ Russell, John (4 March, 1988). "Art: Versailles Palace In Swedish Perspective". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/04/arts/art-versailles-palace-in-swedish-perspective.html. Retrieved 30 March, 2009. 
  25. ^ Rickett, p. 94-95
  26. ^ Rickett, p. 78
  27. ^ Rickett, p. 90
  28. ^ Rickett, p. 24-25
  29. ^ Rickett, p. 66-67
  30. ^ Rickett, p. 34-35
  31. ^ "Australian Humour > Living with Crazy Buttocks". http://www.bookworm.com.au/Shopper/Item.aspx?id=Living-with-Crazy-Buttocks-9780140297232&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1. Retrieved 30 March, 2009. 
  32. ^ Simon, Anna (7 November 2002). "Review: The Big Book of Lesbian Horse Stories". The Portland Mercury 3 (No.23). http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/Content?oid=27915&category=22148. Retrieved 30 March, 2009. 
  33. ^ Rickett, p. 46-47
  34. ^ "Interview with Gary Leon Hill, author of People who Don't Know They're Dead". Pagan New Network. http://www.pagannews.com/glh.shtml. Retrieved 30 March, 2009. 
  35. ^ Rickett, p. 26-27

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

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