Goblinproofing One's Chicken Coop hailed oddest book title

The splendidly titled Goblinproofing One's Chicken Coop has won The Bookseller's Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year. Reginald Bakeley's winning tome, which also offers "Other Practical Advice In Our Campaign Against The Fairy Kingdom", took 38 per cent of an online public vote. Loani Prior's How Tea Cosies Changed …

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Point?

Because it allowed someone to write an article including the words...

Goblin

Tea Cosies

Penis

Hitler

Seriously, who's going to pass that up?

[Callam McMillan]

Re: Point?

They forgot to mention that "Highlights in the History of Concrete" was a complete blockbuster also!

[LinkOfHyrule]

Re: They forgot to mention that "Highlights in the History of Concrete"

I would like to "reinforce" the above statement!

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Point?

"Goblin

Tea Cosies

Penis

Hitler"

The real challenge: Use them all in a sentence.

My entry: "Again, Hitler doubled over in pain - another goblin had latched on to his nether regions, having bitten right through the extra layers of tea cosies that the Fuhrer had positioned there for protection, and was mocking him from around a mouthful of penis: "Thig heil thith, mein thurer," it sputtered gleefully as it chewed, "Lookth like there'th one Natthi thallute you won't be givin' thräulein Braun any thime thoon!"

...yeah, there's a reason I didn't become an author.

[Destroy All Monsters]

Re: Point?

Jesus H. Christ!

What's up with that austrian mustachioed guy anyway? Why no Lenin, Stalin, or further abroad, Mao jokes? Or one can throw a Pol into the Pot.... etc.

[Robert Carnegie]

Not just Hitler

There seems to be a genre of anecdote in which a famous foreign person visited England - usually before they were famous, although there also was briefly a legend that Michael Jackson performed impromptu at some club in provincial England - which is more likely to be the work of an impersonator, and "Anton in Eastbourne" (the playwright Chekhov) is a work of fiction. But Lenin, and yes Hitler, and Jesus, are supposed to have walked upon England's mountains green - if you believe it. (Re Jesus, no, not just because of the song.) Supposedly Lenin came to see Letchworth.

I don't know if this is just an English hobby, or reflective of an island nervous about immigration. You might sceptically include the Book of Mormon (not the musical show) in an equivalent American genre, and a rare case of Americans admitting that anyone who isn't an American -is- famous.

[Ian Yates]

Re: The point of this is?

Err... Friday?

[jai]

Re: The point of this is?

it's filed under the Business / Media section of the website.

Not under the Computer section. Not under the Tech section. Not under the Software section, nor even under the Hardware section. I'm confused by your confusion that you thought it was part of one or all of those sections of the site.

and as others have said, it's friday ffs, lighten up and get down the pub!

[Rampant Spaniel]

Re: The point of this is?

Well said! Sometimes a story is just amusing enough to share anyway. It's not like it killed your kittens reading it.

[Phil O'Sophical]

There's a Kindle edition ($11.23), does that make it OK?

[Quentin North]

this is nothing compared to last years winner

The brilliantly titled Cooking with Poo

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17560468

[Anonymous Coward]

'How to avoid huge ships'

Another great title with something of a cult following on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Avoid-Huge-Ships-John-Trimmer/dp/0870334336

[Lester Haines]

Re: 'How to avoid huge ships'

"This book really is one of the best huge ship avoidance references I've come across, not just for the effective methods it teaches as to avoiding huge ships, but also for exploding some of the huge ship avoidance myths that many of us take for granted."

Lovely.

[Rampant Spaniel]

Re: 'How to avoid huge ships'

Huge ship avoidance myths, anyone care to share any? Isn't it just a case of always turn to port? :-)

[VeganVegan]

Re: 'How to avoid huge ships'

I'd imagine it's about avoiding more than the ship itself, but the inevitable wake. Depending on your relative position to the huge ship (same/opposite heading, larboard/starboard side), once you've avoided actual collision, you'd still need to change course to ride over the wake, else potentially turning turtle.

[Michael Wojcik]

Re: 'How to avoid huge ships'

Huge ship avoidance myths, anyone care to share any?

"Don't be an iceberg."

[RainForestGuppy]

Re: 'How to avoid huge ships'

Read the 1 star reviews. Brilliant!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: 'How to avoid huge ships'

...or you could just work on Half Life Episode 3, and avoid shipping entirely.

[envmod]

Euphemism?

Goblinproofing One's Chicken Coop

"I tell you what lads, I need to quickly nip upstairs and goblinproof my chickencoop..."

[Phil O'Sophical]

Re: Euphemism?

"Must have been the vindaloo, I was goblinproofing the chicken coop all night"

[IronSteve]

Re: Euphemism?

Tried my luck with that bird last night...but she'd goblinproofed her chicken coop so no joy

[Ketlan]

Odd titles

I've only got two books that I've bought for their titles alone: 'Tiger Standish Does His Stuff', which I always thought was a great porn title, and 'Re-inforced Concrete Made Easy'', which speaks for itself really. Don't you love shit titles. ;-0

[envmod]

lulz

ZING!

[John H Woods]

My favourite ...

... (and relevant for Object Orientation) ... "Women, Fire and Dangerous Things" by George Lakoff.

[beep54]

I would post my latest title

But, well what then?