The 2004 Diagram Prize for the Oddest Title of the Year

Just when the year was drawing to a close and it looked as if there wasn't going to a 2004 Prize, the shortlist has now been announced for my favourite competition of the year, run by columnist Horace Bent in the Bookseller (the UK book trade weekly) with input from dedicated odd title hunters from all over the world. The prize, set up in association with the Diagram Group, has been running since 1978 and is a joyous celebration of the barmy side of publishing.

As always, they've come up with some extremely amusing and quite incredible titles, but all are guaranteed to be authentic. It's been a tough job choosing from the extremely bizarre 2004 line-up.

The 2004 shortlist

Applications of High Tech Squids

The Aesthetics of the Japanese Lunchbox

Bombproof Your Horse

Detecting Foreign Bodies in Food

Equids in Time and Space

Sexual Health at Your Fingertips

Aren't they wonderful?

The 2003 Winner

The Big Book of Lesbian Horse Stories

So how do you think this lines up alongside glorious winners of the past, such as 2002's wonderful Living with Crazy Buttocks and the original classis Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude Mice? The 2004 winner will be announced very soon.

(Please note that, contrary to what you may think, all entries for the Prize must be genuine titles of books actually being published - no cheating allowed)

2003 Diagram Prize

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