AbeBooks' Weird Book Room

AbeBooks has a fantastic virtual Weird Book Room. I was thrilled to discover that I only have three of the books on the page: Mannix's The History of Torture (highly recommended!), The How And Why Wonder Book of Guns (useful!), and the Gangsta Rap Coloring Book (a gift!). Oh, how I love thee, Abe. Abe Weird Book Room (Thanks, Vann Hall!)

• [nanuq]

  I had to Google Le Petomane to find out what made it so remarkable. Now I’m sorry I did.

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_P%C3%A9tomane

• [Daddyology]

  I also have Mrs. Bryne’s dictionary and have found really, really fun to go through.

  Some others that seem quite interesting: “The Big Book of Lesbian Horse Stories” simply because I didn’t know there were lesbian horses; “A History of Orgies” just because … well, just because; and “How to Survive a Robot Uprising” seems useful (even if I, for one, welcome our etc. etc. etc.).

  One I have no interest in at all is “The Haunted Vagina.” It reminds me too much of a girl I dated in college.

  Oh, and nanuq: I wonder if that explains the name for the Gov in “Blazing Saddles” … ? :-)

• [Gunn]

  I’m pleased to see that Clarion West grad Carlton Mellick III has a book in the Weird Book room. (Way to go, Carlton!) But I’m a little surprised that the ABE-WB has only one Mellick book noted. I believe all Carlton’s books are weird and provocative. For more, see http://carltonmellick.com.

• [Anonymous]

  A Social History of the Machine Gun is actually a fascinating history of war, class, race, technology, etc. One of the few books assigned for a class that I continue to read and recommend.

• [Anonymous]

  I know I enjoyed reading The Thermodynamics of Pizza, though I don’t actually remember all that much about it…

• [Anonymous]

  I have one I just can’t part.

  “Hippies, Drugs and Promiscuity” by Suszanne Labin

• [Pantograph]

  “Doga: Yoga for dogs” is a must have, if only to see if they teach Downward Facing Human.

• [Freddie Freelance]

  So, was Karl Marx a Satanist?

• [Anonymous]

  What a great feature! This is fantastic. Personally, I like “Soldier Bear” (what a cover) and “Jewish Chess Masters on Stamps”.

  Awesome. I’m buying some.

• [Talia]

  More importantly, ARE the English human? Inquiring minds want to know.

  • [Nash Rambler]

    “More importantly, ARE the English human? Inquiring minds want to know.”

    I myself have long suspected the British of being a race of tea-loving pod aliens, whose demure manners and excellent chocolate are merely luring the rest of the world into their trap.

• [Nevermore]

  When you replace the word “book” by “blog”, the weirdness suddenly decreases. I’m not so sure if I’d be pleased to stumble upon a blog dedicated to amateur taxidermists though…

• [maoinhibitor]

  I have to give a shout out to Elissa Stein, who co-authored Flow… you’ve made BoingBoing, Elissa!

• [Jewels Vern]

  Well, I sure misunderstood something there. The story plainly said “Book Room” but there are no books. It’s only an online catalog for a book store.

• [Billegible]

  Proud owner of Mrs. Byrne’s Dictionary. I like odd books and have a few that I should probably recommend to them as additions… wish I had a few more of the ones on that page!

• [Tokoloshe]

  I have two. Was Karl Marx a Satanist and Mrs. Byrne’s Dictionary (Herci=armpit hair). Ah, the joy of working at a library.

• [PeaceLove]

  I have 2 – The Gun book and Le Petomane, the thrilling history of the master Fartiste who took Paris by storm (heh heh) around the turn of the 20th century. I’d also put my copies of Eric Dingwall’s The Girdle of Chastity and Douglas Miller’s You Can’t Do Business With Hitler up against some of those choices any day!

• [aeriegnome]

  Wierd book central in Toronto is Monkey’s Paw Books and Curio’s. Check out the “front window” blog for jaw-dropping examples of Hunh? books. No kidding, these books are real.

  http://mo-paw.blogspot.com/

• [Hagrid]

  Ha ha ha ha “The English: Are They human?” made me laugh!

• [Anonymous]

  Aw, I’ve only got one, and it’s “Monk Habits for Everyday People”. I did add a whole bunch to my wish list, though.