Living With Crazy Buttocks is an actual book title. Pretty funny title at that -- and my favorite among the former Diagram Prize winners vying for the oddest book title of the last 30 years. It's a contest organized by The Bookseller, a trade magazine across the pond.
It didn't win. The winning entry, crowned by an online voting public, is Greek Rural Postmen and Their Cancellation Numbers, published in 1994 by a British stamp-collecting organization.
Philip Stone, charts editor for The Bookseller, had this to say about the choice: "I sincerely believe that this title provides further proof to the current government that the British public are passionate about the maintenance and continuation of local mail delivery services."
I suppose he's joking here given the whole nature of the contest. And I've always enjoyed the British sense of humor, but come on! Not funnier than Living With Crazy Buttocks. Sorry. Here are some of the other competing titles:
People Who Don't Know They're Dead (runner-up)
How to Avoid Huge Ships (third place)
Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude Mice
How Green Were the Nazis?
Reusing Old Graves
I'm thinking we here in the U.S. can come up with some funnier titles, so I'm going to start collecting them. Suggestions welcome. Send to: tbudasi@suntimes.com.
