The BookSeller has announced the winner of its 42nd Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year. The honors go to…
A Dog Pissing at the Edge of a Path: Animal Metaphors in Eastern Indonesian Society by Gregory Forth
It's the first time a Canadian author has received the prize.
Here is the rest of the shortlist with the percentage of the public vote each title received, from The Bookseller:
23%
Introducing the Medieval Ass
As it notched second place finish, one couldn't say Kathryn L Smithies' Introducing the Medieval Ass (University of Wales Press) was bringing up the rear, but it was perhaps a disappointing finish for an early bookies' favourite.13%
Classical Antiquity in Heavy Metal Music
KFB Fletcher and Osman Umurha's Classical Antiquity in Heavy Metal Music (Bloomsbury Academic) didn't stop at cranking it up to 11—it went all the way to 13 (per cent) to claim a third-place podium finish.12%
Lawnmowers: An Illustrated History
A respectable mid-table return for Lawnmowers: An Illustrated History (Amberley) by Brian Radam, owner of Southport's British Lawnmower Museum, undoubtedly most Britons' first post-lockdown day trip destination.2%
The Slaughter of Farmed Animals: Practical Ways of Enhancing Animal Welfare
With the rise of vegetarianism and veganism, Temple Grandin and Michael Cockram's The Slaughter of Farmed Animals: Practical Ways of Enhancing Animal Welfare (CABI) undoubtedly ran counter to prevailing trends. Hard cheese. Or tofu.1%
How to Make Love to a Despot
As it perhaps brought up images of a priapic and de-robed Kim Jong-Un, Stephen D Krasner's How to Make Love to a Despot (Liveright) was not a hit with Diagram voters.
(via Kottke)