Do-It-Yourself Brain Surgery and Other Implausibly Titled Books

by Joel Rickett

A hilarious illustrated sampling of the most baffling, improbably titled books ever sent to press.

The Diagram Prize is awarded by the Bookseller magazine each year to the book with the oddest title. Since its creation at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 1978, the Diagram has had some worthy winners, including Bombproof Your Horse, How to Avoid Huge Ships, and People Who Don't Know They're Dead.

And though these titles may seem like surefire winners, each year of this ingenious contest has seen stiff competition across all fiction (Fabulous Small Jews, 2003); instructional (Knitting with Dog Hair, 1994); and even erotica (The Big Book of Lesbian Horse Stories, 2002). Last year's competition featured I Was Tortured by the Pygmy Love Queen―which came in second.

Here, collected for the first time, are the fifty best entries the Diagram has ever seen. Presented complete with their (equally outlandish) jackets, these books are memorable, perplexing, and riotously funny. A perfect gift for a book lover or anyone in need of a laugh.

Genres: Humor, Nonfiction

96 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Jasmine · Rating 3 out of 5]

KAREN!!!!


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[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is exactly the same book as: How to Avoid Huge Ships: And Other Implausibly Titled Books. It was published the year earlier in 2008, as this book, DO-IT-YOURSELF.... was published in 2009. I enjoyed reading it the first time and got a good chuckle out of it. It contains a collection of Diagram award winners for oddest book title. The second time I just felt duped.

[Briana Grenert]

THIS is an excellent airport read - helped pass the time in the Phoenix airport. Madeline gave it to me. I have actually used one of the books listed, and I really want to read the shopping cart book.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sweet little book of silly book titles. It's not going to change your world, but it provides some solid amusement. Strangely, a number of book titles mentioned in the introduction are actually far funnier (as in laugh out loud) than the ones chosen to be showcased in the book's actual pages. This will pass the time when you need a bit of levity in your life.

[Carfig · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting to see the crazy book titles that are actually in print. How do these people get published, and would they let me in on their secrets?

[Rex Libris]

This was a periodically funny book. There is a Diagram Prize for the oddest book title, and the book is a collection of odd book titles. Some titles are obviously meant to be funny, such as The Field Giude to Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America. Others are meant to be serious and aimed only to small audience, such as Archeology of American Bottoms. While an amusing title, it was a serious report abot a dig at a river site in Illinois.

They did not have my favorite book titles, The Day My Butt Went Psycho and Captain Underpants and the Wrath of the Wicked Wedgie Woman.

The best literary prize collection is the series of books about the Bulwer-Lytton Contest for Best Opening Lines; It was a dark and stormy night, Return of the dark and stormy night, Bride of the dark and stormy night, et all.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. Not very funny at all. The book title implies that it will be very humorous, but it simply is not.

First of all, the introduction, written by the author (or compiler, rather) goes on longer than it really should. And in his narrative he pretty much mentions each book title that is listed in the book. Which brings me to my second issue...there aren't very many books listed. Yes...some of them are funny. Some of them are weird. Some are just dumb. In any event, a picture of the book cover goes along with each title, which helps with context and makes some of the titles funnier. But all in all...boo.

[Jallen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do It Yourself Brain Surgery and Other Implausibly Titled Books is a good book if you are looking for a fun short read. There isn't much text in this book, the only text is the captions. However, this book doesn't need much text because the book titles speak for themselves. I dare anyone to try and read this book without laughing.