# Best titles ever **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 27, 2009, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-titles-ever/487598 "2009-02-27T01:53:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-titles-ever/487598/61 "2009-02-27T19:10:10Z")
Movies: _The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds_ (also a novel) _8 Heads in a Duffle Bag_ _The Incredibly Strtange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies_ ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-titles-ever/487598/62 "2009-02-27T19:13:13Z")
“Mother Hitton’s Littul Kittons” is another great Cordwainer Smith story title. But the ultimate is James Blish’s “Faust Aleph-Null”, the title under which the story was serialized in _If_. It was expanded a bit into a book titled “Black Easter”, “Faust Aleph-Null” being relegated to a sub-title. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-titles-ever/487598/63 "2009-02-27T19:18:33Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > One of Pet Shop Boys’ better song titles was “You only tell me you love me when you’re drunk.” Bloodhound Gang had a song called “You’re Pretty When I’m Drunk.” ---
**Author:** ![RedRosesForMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RedRosesForMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedRosesForMe)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-titles-ever/487598/64 "2009-02-27T19:18:55Z")
Tom Robbins’ _Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates_. I bought that book strictly because of the title, and it was awesome. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-titles-ever/487598/65 "2009-02-27T19:43:29Z")
For song titles, it’'s hard to beat Jimmy Buffett’s **The Weather Is Here, Wish You Were Beautiful**. The recent book\*\* An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England\*\* by Brock Clarke is worth mentioning. ---
**Author:** ![gang\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f07891/32.png) [@gang\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gang_green)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-titles-ever/487598/66 "2009-02-27T20:03:08Z")
I once picked up a book at a library book sale called _The Natural Science of Stupidity_. I moved shortly thereafter and lost it. I may still have it in storage somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-titles-ever/487598/67 "2009-02-27T20:10:51Z")
Catch-22 Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man The Sorrows of Young Werther War and Peace I know these are all famous books, but look at those titles, ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-titles-ever/487598/68 "2009-02-27T20:17:47Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > **The Jewish-Japanese Sex and Cook Book and How to Raise Wolves** by Jack Douglas Holy shit that sounds awesome! 😃 I nominate **the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy**. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-titles-ever/487598/69 "2009-02-27T20:17:54Z")
The reason I picked up my first Terry Pratchett book was because _The Fifth Elephant_ sounded goofy enough to be interesting. ---
**Author:** ![RiverRunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-titles-ever/487598/70 "2009-02-27T20:22:35Z")
**Jaguars Ripped My Flesh** ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-titles-ever/487598/71 "2009-02-27T23:04:26Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] nitpick: Evidence that this is a great title is that, even though it’s been over 15 years since I read it, I still remember that it’s actually _Great Mambo Chicken and the Transhuman Condition_. [/quote] Actually, the title is great because it’s a humdrum description of the book’s contents. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-titles-ever/487598/72 "2009-02-28T01:16:20Z")
From Daniel Pinkwater: _The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Doom_ _Fat Men from Outer Space_ _The Hoboken Chicken Emergency_ ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-titles-ever/487598/73 "2009-02-28T02:44:17Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > NOFX also has: > … Not to mention their albums Punk in Drublic White trash, two heebs and a bean ---
**Author:** ![De\_La\_Rue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@De\_La\_Rue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/De_La_Rue)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-titles-ever/487598/74 "2009-02-28T02:54:19Z")
Let’s see, I had a list somewhere… \* Hot Wireless Sets, Aspirin Tablets, The Sandpaper Sides of Used Matchboxes, And Something That Might Have Been Castor Oil\* \* The Big Space Fuck\* _If All Men Were Brothers, Would You Let One Marry Your Sister?_ ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-titles-ever/487598/75 "2009-02-28T03:15:53Z")
_Olson’s Standard Book of British Birds (Expurgated Version)._ The one without the gannet. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-titles-ever/487598/76 "2009-02-28T03:38:56Z")
In the TSIA category is a classic: _Kidnapped!_ Exclamation point mandatory. If it weren’t such a crackerjack story, the title might be less impressive; but it’s sort of the 19th century equivalent of Snakes on a Plane. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-titles-ever/487598/77 "2009-02-28T03:50:27Z")
[The Woman with a Worm in Her Head: And Other True Stories of Infectious Disease](http://www.amazon.com/Woman-Worm-Her-Head-Infectious/dp/0312306016/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1235792673&sr=8-1) I admit I bought it in part to see my SO’s reaction, who at the time was working at the bookstore where I bought it and rang me up. To my dismay, he just raised his eyebrow and thumbed through it a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-titles-ever/487598/78 "2009-02-28T04:01:02Z")
Ooh, that reminds me of another one, a themed short-story anthology with a title that fucking **sells** : [The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric and Discredited Diseases](http://www.amazon.com/Thackery-Lambshead-Eccentric-Discredited-Diseases/dp/1892389541). (It’s got some great stories in it, too!) ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-titles-ever/487598/79 "2009-02-28T04:44:00Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > I would like to compile a list of the best book titles ever, with your help. I will start the ball rolling as follows: > > _The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat_, by Oliver Sacks I picked that book up at a secondhand market purely because of the title. Other pop-science books seem to have picked up on the trick since. [The Woman Who Loved an Octopus: And Other Saints’ Tales](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Woman-Who-Loved-Octopus-Saints/dp/1854114425) is a book by a vague acquaintance of mine, and I claim some credit for persuading her to use that title rather than other more pedestrian titles. Never underestimate just how big an impact a good title can have. My only published work (in a collection) was due to a moment of inspiration about the title. I thought ‘A Clockwork Orange is Not the Only Fruit,’ (with capitals and everything), and there appeared before me an essay comparing different approaches to authorship, with the polar opppsites of Jeanette Winterson and Anthony Burgess. Thank the Lord for an appreciation of puns. I would never have completed my MA without it. I love ‘The Jewish-Japanese Sex and Cook Book and How to Raise Wolves by Jack Douglas.’ The title, that is. What’s the book about? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-titles-ever/487598/80 "2009-02-28T12:32:47Z")
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