My Vote's for Genghis Khan Dentistry

The Diagram Prize for the Oddest Book Title was conceived and first awarded in 1978 when, to alleviate the tedium of a particularly dull Frankfurt book fair, a member of the Diagram Group (which specializes in providing graphic content for books) came up with the idea of awarding a prize to the finder of the oddest title at the fair. Within a few years the prize, now administered by the Bookseller magazine, had moved into the public eye and had been expanded to include all books published in a given year, not just those at the Frankfurt book fair.

I must say, the just announced short list for this year's award doesn't seem quite up to those of past years, which included notable winners such as Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes, The Big Book of Lesbian Horse Stories and Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude Mice.

Nevertheless, my vote goes to Managing a Dental Practice the Genghis Khan Way by Michael R Young, which I reckon is a shoo-in for this year's award against these other, undoubtedly worthy, but just not quite as compelling titles:

• The Generosity of the Dead by Graciela Nowenstein
• The Italian's One-night Love Child by Cathy Williams
• Myth of the Social Volcano by Martin King Whyte
• What Color Is Your Dog? by Joel Silverman
• 8th International Friction Stir Welding Symposium Proceedings
  

The prize is awarded to the person who nominates the winning title - who receives either a bottle of claret or champagne.

As for the author, while there is no monetary compensation for them, they do, of course, receive publicity in the wake of their book's win. Indeed, sales of last year's champion, Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes, saw sales leap from half a dozen copies a week to 95 in the week after winning.

The effect on Greek Rural Postmen and their Cancellation Numbers, winner of the 2008 "Diagram of Diagrams" (awarded to the oddest title of the past 30 years), was even more profound; sales rose more than 1000 percent, from one copy sold in the two weeks previously to ten in the week after winning.

To quote prize administrator Philip Stone, "You can't buy that kind of publicity"!

To vote, go to www.thebookseller.com and look for the poll in the top right corner of the homepage.
It's not clear when the voting closes but the winner will be announced on Friday, 25th March.

Which title will get your vote?


--- Davina Morgan-Witts, BookBrowse editor