Stranger than fiction: books whose titles range from weird to hilarious
11th December 2006
Tens of thousands of books are published every year. Some become bestsellers, while others are unintentionally funny or just plain weird.
A new collection of book covers celebrates the hundreds of titles that have been produced over the years with the serious objective of informing readers, but which - thanks to changes in the meaning of many words over time - are now more likely to result in laughter.
The authors spent four decades searching second-hand bookshops and libraries for their titles. Here are the Mail's favourites -
Schoolboys everywhere giggled, but herpetologists found it vital reading
-------------------------
Double Dutch? Irish blarney? It was all Greek to them....
------------------------
The French would love this one.
-----------------------
A windy book published in 1727 by 'Don Fartinhando Puffindhorst' (professor of bumbast) but thought to be the great Irish satirist Jonathan Swift
------------------------
Soap opera? Or just old-fashioned film stars keeping it clean
------------------------
An early religious thriller? But it's hardly got the Da Vinci touch
-------------------------
Nothing to do with poor Alexander Litvinenko, but advice for housewives using gas cookers
--------------------------
Just when you've got all the time in the world to read, the perfect self-help book
--------------------------
Sounds a lively read -billed as 'an appalling poem by a madman'
--------------------------
From the days when gay meant happy and fags were schoolboys
--------------------------
Ah, innocent times. But scout leaders would be locked up for it today
dailymail.co.uk
11th December 2006
Tens of thousands of books are published every year. Some become bestsellers, while others are unintentionally funny or just plain weird.
A new collection of book covers celebrates the hundreds of titles that have been produced over the years with the serious objective of informing readers, but which - thanks to changes in the meaning of many words over time - are now more likely to result in laughter.
The authors spent four decades searching second-hand bookshops and libraries for their titles. Here are the Mail's favourites -
Schoolboys everywhere giggled, but herpetologists found it vital reading
-------------------------
Double Dutch? Irish blarney? It was all Greek to them....
------------------------
The French would love this one.
-----------------------
A windy book published in 1727 by 'Don Fartinhando Puffindhorst' (professor of bumbast) but thought to be the great Irish satirist Jonathan Swift
------------------------
Soap opera? Or just old-fashioned film stars keeping it clean
------------------------
An early religious thriller? But it's hardly got the Da Vinci touch
-------------------------
Nothing to do with poor Alexander Litvinenko, but advice for housewives using gas cookers
--------------------------
Just when you've got all the time in the world to read, the perfect self-help book
--------------------------
Sounds a lively read -billed as 'an appalling poem by a madman'
--------------------------
From the days when gay meant happy and fags were schoolboys
--------------------------
Ah, innocent times. But scout leaders would be locked up for it today
dailymail.co.uk
Last edited: