Thursday, March 15, 2007

Strange titles and topics

I love to find old books that have bizarre topics or dated points of view. I would love to hear other people's favorites too.

One of my all time favorites is _Jogging: the Dance of Death_ by Robert Gene Fineberg.

This book exposes the "dark side" of running. Published in 1980 it clearly is a response to the new fitness craze that was hitting the nation. I have had a difficult time tracking down the authors credentials... This is the only book I have identified by him.

4 comments:

Terry Dawson said...

I've always thought the classic in this regard to be Wisconsin Death Trip. Nifty and nasty.

Jeanette, Library Assistant said...

Being a mom I see quite a few very strange titles in children's books. Here are a few of my favorite from My Body Science Series.
The Gas We Pass
The Holes in Your Nose
All About Scabs
Everyone Poops

Karen, Interloan, Local History said...

I agree some of the "body function" ones for kids have interesting titles, and I think it's great! The Everyone Poops is my favorite though. I wish there had been more around in just real, plain, kid understandable language when my kids were little! The most interesting ones I remember were from Peter Mayle. Titles like, Where did I come from, and What's happening to me, the answers to some of the world's most embarrassing questions. They're still around, even in our collection, and still getting checked out!

Karen, Interloan, Local History said...

I have to say I've seen some pretty strange titles come and go, but the topic that I thought was a joke, but turned out to be "real" was cooking on your car/truck engine. I mistakenly assumed it would be strictly a humorous thing, like Patrick McManus things. If you like the outdoors, camping and such, and you haven't read anything by him, give him a try. Turns out that there are actually several books about how to cook food on your car's engine. Who knew? (Manifold Destiny, we don't own it, but it's available in print or audio)