Books are powerful. This morning Ron woke up feeling punk and cranky. But after getting his coffee he picked up a library book he brought home yesterday and began reading. And was soon laughing merrily and within minutes was feeling better and cheerfully looking forward to our busy day. Chance are, Bizarre Books: A Compendium of Classic Oddities may well affect you the same way.
Russell Ash and Brian Lake have compiled a laugh out loud funny collection of classic British book covers and titles. From The Resistance of Piles to Penetration to Games You Can Play With Your Pussy or Drummer Dick’s Discharge and Erections On Allotments the authors display a clear appreciation for the double entendre and the risque phrase. Readers intrigued by my recent post on The Gas We Pass may want to look for The Benefits of Farting Explained while anyone feeling harassed by the more militant members of the Anti-Smoking movement may prefer How To Get More Fun Out Of Smoking. My librarian friends will no doubt be eager to find The Joy of Cataloguing and my ner do well friends will no doubt take comfort from The Bright Side of Prison Life.
Most of the books mentioned in this volume appear to be older and published in England rather than the United States so I don’t know how much success I will have when I try looking to obtain some of these through the library. I can imagine a new weekly feature devoted just to weird books mentioned by Ash and Lake. But I am confident that even if I never get around to reviewing The Romance of Holes in Bread or Jogging :The Dance of Death you will get a real kick out of Bizarre Books. Highly Recommended.
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December 6th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
I am almost always reading 2 or 3 books at once, plus a few magazines and of course the newspaper. I am always thinking I should focus on just one book at a time, but then I find one that attracts me and I pick it up and start. Because of this, sometimes it takes me 6 months to get through a big book! At least the problem is too many books, not enough time, rather than not being interested in reading like some of my friends.
I wonder if the media conniptions about kids not reading anymore will prove valid? My two daughters read a lot. My son reads his sports books, magazines and the daily newspaper. They are all 20 y.o. and younger, so they don’t support the media image. I think most middle age Americans don’t read much, (except for the trash in the grocery check out line), so things probably have not changed. My son probably reads more than I do if you count the online stuff!
By the way, your site is looking great!
-Will
December 8th, 2007 at 9:12 am
Bizarre Books: A Compendium of Classic Oddities is the kind of stuff I enjoy casually reading. Thanks for the info, now I have to set about finding me a copy!