Wonderfully Weird Books (and their wonderfully weird titles)

[Bill Ryan]

I was originally going to post this on the Interesting Free Books in PDF (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?9462-Interesting-Free-Books-in-PDF/page38) thread, for the delight of all bookworms that visit there. But these aren't actually books in PDF, and besides, it would hopeless derail the thread forever. :)

It's a page from AbeBooks (https://abebooks.com), called 'Wonderfully Weird Books' (and their wonderfully weird titles).

Do take a look. The original page is here, which features images of all the [real!] covers. I do highly recommend reading carefully through all the titles below. Every one of these has been published.

http://projectavalon.net/forum4/images/smilies/0103%20Big%20smile.gif


https://abebooks.com/books/weird

Wonderfully Weird Books

1001 Sandwiches
by Florence A. Cowles

I Can't Chew Cookbook
by J. Randy Wilson

Treat Your Own Neck
by Robin McKenzie

How to Raise Your I.Q. by Eating Gifted Children
by Lewis B. Frumkes

Extreme Ironing
by Phil Shaw

The Lodge Goat and Goat Rides
by James Pettibone

Description of a New Toad from Cuba
by Leonhard Stejneger

The Second-Hand Parrot
by Mattie Sue Athan

Favorite Flies and Their Histories
by Mary Orvis Marbury

How to Enjoy Your Weeds
by Audrey Wynne Hatfield

Rats for Those Who Care
by Susan Fox

Versailles: The View From Sweden
by Elaine Dee

The History of the Concrete Roofing Tile
by Charles Dobson

How to Avoid Matrimony
by Herald Froy

Curses and Blessings for All Occasions
by Bradley Trevor Greive

Cereal Grass: What's In It for You!
by R.L. Seibold

The Book of Marmalade
by C. Anne Wilson

Embarrassing Moments in German
by Noah J. Jacobs

Acrobat Hamster
by Mary Cockett

Stop-Motion Puppet Sculpting
by Tom Brierton

Tulipomania: The Story of the World's Most Coveted Flower and the Extraordinary Passions it Aroused
by Mike Dash

How to Cook for a Ghost
by Hope McIntyre

Extinct for a Reason
by Scott Cooney and Aaron Adler

SPAM: A Biography: The Amazing True Story of America's Miracle Meat!
by Carolyn Wyman

The Importance of Being Fuzzy
by Arturo Sangalli

My Parish is Revolting
by Norman Ellis

Barbs, Prongs, Points, Prickers, and Stickers: A Complete and Illustrated Catalogue of Antique Barbed Wire
by Robert T. Clifton

Be Bold With Bananas
by the Banana Control Board

Zombie Sharks with Metal Teeth
by Stephen Graham Jones

Bread Sculpture: The Edible Art
by Ann Wiseman

Practical Muskrat Raising
by E.J. Dailey

Fart Proudly: Writings of Benjamin Franklin You Never Read in School
by Benjamin Franklin

Wildlife Contraception
by Cheryl S. Asa and Ingrid J. Porton

How God Gives Us Ice Cream
by Mary LeBar

Red Army Uniforms of World War II in Colour Photographs
by Anton Shalito, Ilya Sajvchenkov & Andrew Mollo

Liberace: Your Personal Fashion Consultant
by Michael & Karan Feder

The Thermodynamics of Pizza
by Harold J. Morowitz

Knit the Christmas Story
by Jan Messent

How to be Danish
by Patrick Kingsley

Still Stripping After 25 Years
by Eleanor Burns

How to Sharpen Pencils
by David Rees

The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America
by Julian Montague

Do-It-Yourself Coffins: For Pets and People
by Dale Power

Managing a Dental Practice the Genghis Khan Way
by Michael Young

Goblinproofing One's Chicken Coop
by Reginald Bakeley

How Tea Cosies Changed the World
by Loani Prior

The Magic of Old Tractors
by Ian M. Johnston

A History of Thimbles
by Edwin F. Holmes

Catflexing: The Catlovers Guide to Weight Training, Aerobics and Stretching
by Stephanie Jackson

How to Poo on a Date: The Lovers' Guide to Toilet Etiquette
by Mats & Enzo

Fashion is Spinach
by Elizabeth Hawes

Mole Catching: A Practical Guide
by Jeff Nicholls

All About Pockets
by Christine Petrell Kallevig

What Makes Me Amish?
by Charles George

Manifold Destiny: The One! The Only! Guide to Cooking on Your Car Engine
by Chris Maynard & Bill Scheller

Teach Your Wife to Be a Widow
by Donald I. Rogers

Fancy Goldfish Culture
by Frank W. Orme

Baboon Metaphysics
by Horace Bent

The Best Fences
by James Fitzgerald

Land Snails and Slugs of Russia and Adjacent Countries
by Alexander Sysoev and Anatoly Schileyko

Successful Muskrat Farming
by Robert G. Hodgson

Dictator Style: Lifestyles of the World's Most Colorful Despots
by Peter York

How to Live with an Idiot: Clueless Creatures and the People Who Love Them
by John J. Hoover

The Strange Story of False Teeth
by John Woodforde

My Cat's in Love
by Frank Manolson

I Told You I Was Sick: A Grave Book of Curious Epitaphs
by Nigel Rees

An Intellectual History of Cannibalism
by Catalin Avramescu

The Needlework Book of Bible Stories
by Carolyn Meyer

Your Three-Year-Old: Friend or Enemy?
by Louise Bates Ames

Encyclopaedia of Medical Ignorance
by Ronald Duncan and M. Weston-Smith

Ghosts: Minnesota's Other Natural Resource
by Brian Leffler

Electricity in Gynecology
by May Cushman Rice

How to Avoid Huge Ships
by John W. Trimmer

English Smocks
by Alice Armes

How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found
by Doug Richmond

A Popular History of British Seaweeds
by Rev. D. Landsborough

Boy George Fashion & Make-Up Book
by Wayne Winder

The Humanure Handbook: A Guide to Composting Human Manure
by Joseph Jenkins

Toilet Paper Origami: Delight Your Guests with Fancy Folds and Simple Surface Embellishments
by Linda Wright

Dating for Under a Dollar
by Blair Tolman

People With Long Ears: A Practical Guide to Donkey-Keeping
by Robin Borwick

Crafting with Cat Hair
by Kaori Tsutaya

Tattooed Mountain Women and Spoonboxes of Daghestan
by Robert Chenciner,Gabib Ismailov and Magomedkhan Magomedkhanov

Death in the Pot: The Impact of Food Poisoning on History
by Morton Satin

What Moles Tell You About Yourself
by Pietro Santini

Impeccable Birdfeeding
by Bill Adler Jr.

Beverly Hillbillies Bible Study
by Stephen Skelton

The Bible Cure for Irritable Bowel Syndrome
by Don Colbert, MD

Gangsta Rap Coloring Book
by Aye Jay Moreno

Jewish Chess Masters on Stamps
by Felix Berkovich

Old Age, Its Cause and Prevention
by Sanford Bennett

Paint It Black: A Guide to Gothic Homemaking
by Francois Voltaire

Hanging Out: The Upside Down Exercise Book
by Ira J. Rappaport

Monk Habits for Everyday People: Benedictine Spirituality for Protestants
by Dennis Okholm

How to Good-bye Depression
by Hiroyuki Nishigaki

Nuclear War: What's In It For You?
by Ground Zero Fund, Inc.

Old Tractors and the Men Who Love Them
by Roger Welsch

Cheese Rolling in Gloucestershire
by Jean Jefferies

Was Karl Marx A Satanist?
by Richard Wurmbrand

300 Hundred Ways to Serve Eggs from Appetizers to Zabaglione
by Ruth Berolzheimer

Whittling
by Bill Higginbotham

People Who Don't Know They're Dead
by Gary Leon Hill

50 Sad Chairs
by Bill Keaggy

Outwitting Squirrels
by Bill Adler

All About Sausage
by Ellen Edwards

The Social History of the Machine Gun
y John Ellis

An Incomplete History of the Art of the Funerary Violin
by Rohan Kriwaczek

The Pop-Up Book of Phobias
by Gary Greenberg

Sonya Fitzpatrick, Pet Psychic
by Sonya Fitzpatrick

How Green Were the Nazis?
by Franz-Josef Bruggemeier

International Book of Beer Can Collecting
by Richard Dolphin

Face Lifting by Exercise
by Senta Maria Runge

The Deer-Smellers of Haunted Mountain
by John Joseph Meyer

The Great Pantyhose Crafts Book
by Ed and Stevie Baldwin

How To Survive a Robot Uprising
Daniel H. Wilson

The Art and Science of Embalming
by A.O. Spriggs

American Hair Metal
by Steven Blush

Teleportation: A How to Guide
by Tim Swartz

Natural Bust Enlargement with Total Mind Power
by Donald L. Wilson

The Joys of Jello
by General Foods Corp.

Maverick Cats
by Ellen Perry Berkeley

What Not to Wear on a Horse
by Ginny Oakley and Stephanie Soskin

The Manga Guide to Calculus
by Hiroyuki Kojima and Shin Togami

[Tintin]

Glorious :ROFL:

My favourites:

Goblinproofing One's Chicken Coop
by Reginald Bakeley - ...for 'One's' in the title.

How to Poo on a Date: The Lovers' Guide to Toilet Etiquette
by Mats & Enzo - ...there's a personal anecdote there that I'm really not quite ready to share, yet. However, the date went amazingly well and we were together for two years! (And she laughed with me about it during that time too.)

[Ernie Nemeth]

How yo cook on a car engine - priceless!

[petra]

The Breast by Philip Roth

Like a latter-day Gregor Samsa, Professor David Kepesh wakes up one morning to find that he has been transformed. But where Kafka's protagonist turned into a giant beetle, the narrator of Philip Roth's richly conceived fantasy has become a 155-pound female breast.

[conk]

Glorious :ROFL:

My favourites:

Goblinproofing One's Chicken Coop
by Reginald Bakeley - ...for 'One's' in the title.

How to Poo on a Date: The Lovers' Guide to Toilet Etiquette
by Mats & Enzo - ...there's a personal anecdote there that I'm really not quite ready to share, yet. However, the date went amazingly well and we were together for two years! (And she laughed with me about it during that time too.)

I had to poo on a date, a second date. She invited me to her house after an early dinner. She lived in a tiny apartment, with the bathroom directly adjacent to the living space. Literally three steps from the sofa. The rumbling began, juices and bile bubbling in the digestive caldron. Something wasn't right and my tummy wanted to be rid of it. I knew it would not be a quiet event. there was only one solution, honesty. She was most gracious and turned on the stereo, loud enough to cover the sounds of distress. Not much to do about the smell, however. We just laughed about that. She had a great sense of humor and an even better sense of how the body betrays us on occasion. We dated for many years and the toilet turmoil became a runny, er ah, running joke. ;)
Thanks for the list of books Bill.

[ramus]

My favorite one :
!. How To Survive a Robot Uprising
Daniel H. Wilson

2. Outwitting Squirrels
by Bill Adler

3. How to Avoid Matrimony .... I could have wrote this one
by Herald Froy

4. Dating for Under a Dollar ....that's what made me an expert on avoiding matrimony
by Blair Tolman

[angelfire]

3. How to Avoid Matrimony .... I could have wrote this one
by Herald Froy

4. Dating for Under a Dollar ....that's what made me an expert on avoiding matrimony
by Blair Tolman

Thanks ramus for giving me a badly needed belly laugh.

Wonderful, thanks Bill. I'm now going to check some of these out as christmas presents!!

[kudzy]

The Humanure Handbook: A Guide to Composting Human Manure [/B]
by Joseph Jenkins


Ahh, The Humanure Handbook, I actually own this book. It's a great book, practical, funny and oddly spiritual.



Do-It-Yourself Coffins: For Pets and People
by Dale Power


And I've had the honor of building two coffins and have helped dig four graves for my dearly departed.

Go figure.

[Cardillac]

I just think one of the weirdest (?) books was Frank Baum's "The Wizzard of Oz"- am not so sure it was really so weird-

the book was/is/remains a political allegory-

Frank Baum was very much a proponent to get the US dollar off the gold standard and go onto the silver standard;

then came the film (typical hollywood distortion)-

gold bars look like yellow bricks and hence they are weighed in ounces; hence the abbreviation OZ-

what did the "wicked witch of the west" want the most?

Dorothy's slippers- in the book Dorothy's slippers were silver colored, not ruby colored (thank you Hollywood)-

the wicked witch of the west represents the western financial system which is dollar based and which is why her skin color was dark green-

and the good witch of the east, Glinda, was silver colored (gosh!)-

now it's too much for an Email to get into what the scarecrow, cowerdly lion and tin man represented but it's all part of the allegory-

Larry

[petra]

I just think one of the weirdest (?) books was Frank Baum's "The Wizzard of Oz"- am not so sure it was really so weird-

the book was/is/remains a political allegory-


Whoa.
Well if you think that one's weird, check the Return To Oz, if you haven't already!
I recall the book version frightened me as a child, but I don't recall why. I think it had something to do with goblins. Or maybe it was the illustrations. I did however find this article (https://www.buzzfeed.com/briangalindo/the-11-most-traumatizing-moments-from-return-to-oz) about it titled The 11 Most Traumatizing Moments From "Return To Oz" (what! 11?! lol) NOTE: Those traumatizing moments are related to the movie, not the book.

[AutumnW]

What moles tell you about yourself! Is it a book about blemishes or a book about verbal gerbils?

[Bill Ryan]

Natural Bust Enlargement with Total Mind Power
by Donald L. Wilson

That one raised an eyebrow. What could a guy called Donald Wilson know about that?

[AutumnW]

Maybe he has double d empathy.