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Fromage frais volume scoops odd book prize
""The 2009-2014 World Outlook for 60-milligram Containers of Fromage Frais" was chosen as 2008 champion from a shortlist which pitted it notably against "Baboon Metaphysics" and "The Large Sieve and its Applications."
Contest organiser Horace Bent of the Bookseller magazine welcomed the choice as a smut-free relief, after victory in recent years for titles including "High Performance Stiffened Structures" and "Living With Crazy Buttocks."
"Given that three times in the 21st century the public have crowned somewhat vulgar titles ... I assumed that either 'Strip And Knit With Style' or 'Curbside Consultation Of The Colon' would" win, he said, citing other shortlisted books...
"What does the future hold for these items? Well, given that fromage frais normally comes in 60-gram containers, not 60-milligram, one would assume that the world outlook for 0.06-gram containers of fromage frais is pretty bleak.
"But I'm not willing to pay 795 pounds to find out," he said.
Previous winners of the Oddest Book Title of the Year award include:
- 1997: "The Joy of Sex: Pocket Edition."
- 1998: "Development in Dairy Cow Breeding and Management: and New Opportunities to Widen the Uses of Straw."
- 1999: "Weeds in a Changing World."
- 2000: "High Performance Stiffened Structures."
- 2001: "Butterworths Corporate Manslaughter Service."
- 2002: "Living with Crazy Buttocks."
- 2003: "The Big Book of Lesbian Horse Stories."
- 2004: "Bombproof Your Horse."
- 2005: "People Who Don't Know They're Dead: How They Attach Themselves to Unsuspecting Bystanders and What to Do About It."
- 2006: "The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide to Field Identification."
- 2007: "If You Want Closure In Your Relationship, Start With Your Legs.""