Lucy Vickery

3132: Bizarre books

issue 25 January 2020

In Competition No. 3132 you were invited to submit an extract from one of the following books: Noah Gets Naked: Bible Stories They Didn’t Teach You at Sunday School; Ending the War on Artisan Cheese; The Joy of Waterboiling; Versailles: The View from Sweden.

These genuine titles have all been contenders for the annual Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year, an award invented in 1978 by Bruce Robinson and Trevor Bounford to relieve the tedium of the Frankfurt Book Fair. The Joy of Waterboiling — a German-language guide to cooking meals in a kettle — scooped the gong in 2018 and was top choice with competitors too, followed closely by Versailles: The View from Sweden

David Silverman, Martyn Hurst, Katie Mallett and Rebecca Pyne earn honourable mentions. The winners, printed below, pocket £30 each.

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