# Books of an unusual nature **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [August 4, 2026, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-of-an-unusual-nature/1032141 "2026-08-04T13:54:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-of-an-unusual-nature/1032141/41 "2026-08-05T05:27:59Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Did you all catch anything in particular about that plot summary on Wiki? Oh God. There have been repeated attempts by misguided Wikipedia editors to rewrite the article about _Gadsby_ as a lipogram, but sanity has prevailed there. I’m disappointed to see that the lunatics have won in the _A Void_ article. ---
**Author:** ![Quondam\_Mechanic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quondam_mechanic/32/3404_2.png) [@Quondam\_Mechanic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quondam_Mechanic)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-of-an-unusual-nature/1032141/42 "2026-08-05T05:39:25Z")
Much of the book is unusual in content rather than form, but the frame story for Barth’s _Lost in the Funhouse_ is supposed to be folded and pasted into a Möbius strip. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-of-an-unusual-nature/1032141/43 "2026-08-05T05:41:30Z")
After Marvel Comic writer Mark Gruenwald died—he was cremated and his ashes were mixed with the ink used to print the first printing of the trade paperback compilation of the _Squadron Supreme_ 12 part comic book series he wrote in 1985. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-of-an-unusual-nature/1032141/44 "2026-08-05T05:58:56Z")
There is that novel where _every copy is different._ _Subcutanean_ did this via print-on-demand; I wonder how many copies he sold, though? I suspect there was some procedural generation involved, meaning you can easily knock out as many variations as you need. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-of-an-unusual-nature/1032141/45 "2026-08-05T08:42:54Z")
Do pop-up books qualify? There are many modern ones on all kinds of subjects, but I remember two that my father had: One was a steam engine, showing intricate details, and the other a motorcar. I was only allowed to look at them under supervision, and I have no idea what happened to them. I imagine that they would have been quite expensive back in the 1940s. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-of-an-unusual-nature/1032141/46 "2026-08-05T08:54:28Z")
Oh man, I have two I want to post but I’ll respect the OP, and stick with “Les dîners de Gala” a cookbook by Gala and Salvador Dali. With her stunning dinner party menus and his illustrations, [it’s a rich steaming feast for the senses.](https://youtu.be/k9bQ1b5wFj8) One of my all time favorite finds. \*ETA: The one in the video is not mine. A signed one would bowl me over! ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-of-an-unusual-nature/1032141/47 "2026-08-05T09:12:48Z")
The Amazon reviews are hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-of-an-unusual-nature/1032141/48 "2026-08-05T09:14:11Z")
If we’re gonna submit unusual cookbooks, then I nominate one that’s in my collection - _A Treasury of Great Recipes_ by Vincent Price. Yes, _the_ Vincent Price. It’s not a cookbook in the traditional sense so much as it’s a travelogue of the haute cuisine restaurants he and his wife visited across America and Europe during the peak of his film career and the recipes they cajoled out of the management of those establishments, accompanied by gorgeous color photos and menus. The recipes are organized by the restaurant they originated from instead of by what kind of food they are. They’re hopelessly indulgent recipes from the era where heavy sauces were the norm, mushrooms were a condiment, and “finely chop four truffles” was a reasonable thing to ask of the reader. [https://www.allrecipes.com/vintage-cookbook-treasury-of-great-recipes-8728213](https://www.allrecipes.com/vintage-cookbook-treasury-of-great-recipes-8728213) ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-of-an-unusual-nature/1032141/49 "2026-08-05T09:26:31Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > They’re hopelessly indulgent recipes from the era where heavy sauces were the norm, mushrooms were a condiment, and “finely chop four truffles” was a reasonable thing to ask of the reader. These two books belong together on a shelf. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-of-an-unusual-nature/1032141/50 "2026-08-05T12:26:49Z")
Jennifer Egan’s **A Visit from the Goon Squad** has an entire chapter written in the form of PowerPoint slides and printed in landscape orientation, which requires the reader to rotate either the book or their head 90 degrees (and thus look like a weirdo if they’re reading it in public). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-of-an-unusual-nature/1032141/51 "2026-08-05T12:34:22Z")
It’s not the only book printed in “landscape”. I have an edition of Jules Verne’s **Dr. Ox’ Experiment** that’s entire printed “Sideways” [https://www.ebay.com/itm/287418911009](https://www.ebay.com/itm/287418911009) > **[Dr. Ox's Experiment by Verne, Jules: Hardcover (1963) First Edition. | Parigi...](https://www.abebooks.com/first-edition/Dr-Oxs-Experiment-Verne-Jules-Macmillan/30686286325/bd)** > > First Edition. - Hardcover - The Macmillan Company, New York - 1963 - Dust Jacket Included - The book is printed in landscape orientation. 100pp. Pictorial cloth. Illustrated endpapers. Review copy with publisher's slip laid in. Illustrated by... ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-of-an-unusual-nature/1032141/52 "2026-08-05T12:37:54Z")
I also have a copy of George Bernard Shaw’s play **Androcles and the Lion** published in his self-iinvented “Shavian Alphabet”. To my knowledge, it’s the only book that was ever printed in that script: > **[The Shaw Alphabet Edition of Androcles and the Lion · Covering Photography](https://coveringphotography.bc.edu/items/show/6439)** [Shortened link](https://www.google.com/search?q=Androcles+and+the+Lion+Shaw+Alphabet+EDition&rlz=1C1VDKB_enUS1122US1128&oq=Androcles+and+the+Lion+Shaw+Alphabet+EDition&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTINCAEQABiGAxiABBiKBTIHCAIQABjvBTIHCAMQABjvBTIKCAQQABiABBiiBNIBCjEyNjQzajBqMTWoAgiwAgHxBWcYCKaMX6IE&sourceid=chrome&source=chrome.rb&ie=UTF-8#sv=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) Sadly, it doesn’t have Shaw’s surprisingly long foreword (all of Shaw’s forewords are long, unless the Afterword is) on Christianity. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-of-an-unusual-nature/1032141/53 "2026-08-05T12:46:57Z")
William Faulkner originally intended for **The Sound and the Fury** to be printed in various colored type to differentiate the multiple timelines. Almost a century later, the Folio Society published a limited edition to Faulkner’s specifications, using 14 different colors of ink. (It can be yours for a mere $950!) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-of-an-unusual-nature/1032141/54 "2026-08-05T13:11:05Z")
[Queen Mary had a doll house](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Mary%27s_Dolls%27_House) where everything was extremely detailed in miniature, including working plumbing, and a wine cellar with tiny bottles containing actual wine. The house has a library with actual tiny books, with text written on tiny pages, containing original, if short, stories written by famous authors. It includes a Sherlock Holmes tale. > **[How Watson Learned the Trick - The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia](https://www.arthur-conan-doyle.com/wiki/How_Watson_Learned_the_Trick)** ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-of-an-unusual-nature/1032141/55 "2026-08-05T13:16:02Z")
Frank Gellett Burgess, famous for writing the poem “The Purple Cow” (“I never saw a purple cow, I never hope to see one…”) and for writing the children’s book _The Goops_, which was in print forever (after their initial run, Dover republished them in paperback), and who coined the term “blurb” and other contributions to the English language, published a magazine entitled **Le Petit Journal des Refusees** , which consisted of pieces that had been rejected at least three times by other magazines, printed on oddly-cut pieces of wallpaper. Princeton University has three copies. > **[Le petit journal des refusées - Graphic Arts](https://www.princeton.edu/~graphicarts/2013/03/petit_journal_des_refuses.html)** > **[Drucker\_Le-Petit-Journal-des-Refuse%CC%81es-A-graphical-reading.pdf](https://seeeps.princeton.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/243/2015/03/Drucker_Le-Petit-Journal-des-Refuse%CC%81es-A-graphical-reading.pdf)** > > 155.54 KB > **[Le Petit Journal des Refusées](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Petit_Journal_des_Refus%C3%A9es)** > > Le Petit Journal des Refusées (French, “The Little Journal of Rejects”) was a San Francisco-based literary magazine published in 1896. Though the magazine intended to be a quarterly publication, it only produced one issue during its short existence. Deliberately amateurish and playful in content and design, this independent magazine was created by the humorist Gelett Burgess under the pseudonym of James Marrion 2nd. Other known contributors included Burgess’ artist friends Ernest Peixotto, Port... ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-of-an-unusual-nature/1032141/56 "2026-08-05T13:26:25Z")
I love that there’s an edition of Christopher Moore’s, “Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal,” printed in the same manner as a lot of bibles - soft imitation leather cover, onion-skin paper, gilt edges. > **[Lamb Special Gift Ed: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal:...](https://www.amazon.com/Lamb-Special-Gift-According-Childhood/dp/0061438596)** > > Lamb Special Gift Ed: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal \[Moore, Christopher\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Lamb Special Gift Ed: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-of-an-unusual-nature/1032141/57 "2026-08-05T13:36:17Z")
Speaking of books printed in the appropriate style, I’d recommend **The Jefferson Bible**. Properly it’s entitled **The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth** by Jefferson, who constructed his edition by cutting out passages from the four new Testament gospels in four languages (Greek, Latin, French, and English) and pasting them in a blank volume side-by-side in the manner of a Biblical Concordance. Jefferson assembled these in chronological order, eliminating any supernatural or miraculous events, so as to portray the philosophy of Jesus. In order to fit things in, in at least one case he had to paste part of one sentence in at the edge and fold it over. It was never intended to be a published book, or for wide circulation, but it has been republished several times. The most recent edition, published and sold by the Smithsonian Institution (which owns the original) is a photoreproduction of every single page, reproduced in its original size and bound i the same binding Jefferson used for his edition. It even includes that pasted-in-and-folded-down sentence. There’s a transparent plastic slipcover that tells you what it is, but you can remove this and it looks just like Jefferson’s edition. I got mine few years ago in Washington D.C., and I love it. I’ve read it twice. > **[Jefferson Bible](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Bible)** > > The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, commonly referred to as the Jefferson Bible, is one of two religious works constructed by Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson compiled the manuscripts but never published them. The first, The Philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth, was completed in 1804, but no copies exist today. The second, The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, was completed in 1820 by cutting and pasting, with a razor and glue, numerous sections from the New Testament as extractions of the > **[The Jefferson Bible, Smithsonian Edition: The Life and Morals of Jesus of...](https://www.amazon.com/Jefferson-Bible-Smithsonian-Morals-Nazareth/dp/158834312X)** > > The Jefferson Bible, Smithsonian Edition: The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth \[Jefferson, Thomas, Rubenstein, Harry, Smith, Barbara Clark, Ellis, Janice Stagnitto\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. The Jefferson Bible,... ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-of-an-unusual-nature/1032141/58 "2026-08-05T13:44:27Z")
Another book that isn’t as weird as many already listed, but which took me by surprise, is Christopher Logue’s 1962 translation of Book 16 of Homer’s Iliad, which he named the **Patrocleia** , since it concerns the actions and fate of Patroclus, Achilles’ closest friend. Logue apparently didn’t know ancient Greek, but his translation is truly amazing. It’s unlike any other translation, with Achilles’ prayer to Zeus obviously modeled on The Lord’s Prayer from the New Testament. And he uses wild and sudden changes in typeface and type size to affect the mood, with single word taking up an entire page sometimes. Definitely worth a look > **[Patrocleia of Homer: A New Version](https://www.fulcrum.org/concern/monographs/gb19f889t#toc)** > > Format: PDF | Homer's Iliad "wasn't dead at all," D. S. Carne-Ross writes in the postscript to this book, "it had merely been embalmed. Thanks to (Christopher) Logue's irresponsible behavior, Homer is on the move once more. the genie is out of the... > **[Patrocleia by Christopher Logue – AbeBooks](https://www.abebooks.com/book-search/title/patrocleia/author/christopher-logue/)** > > Patrocleia of Homer: A New Version by Logue, Christopher and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at AbeBooks.com. You can see a few pages reproduced here: [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/02666286.2022.2028524](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/02666286.2022.2028524) Logue wanted to translate the whole Iliad in this fashion, but he didn’t do so before his death. He did, however, translate much of it in individual pieces, which I’ve read. Nothing else seems to follow in the graphical fireworks footsteps of his Patrocleia. [https://www.amazon.com/s?k=christopher+logue+iliad&adgrpid=185087476263&hvadid=792839067338&hvdev=c&hvexpln=0&hvlocphy=9001883&hvnetw=g&hvocijid=1460242865170217754--&hvqmt=e&hvrand=1460242865170217754&hvtargid=kwd-316426243184&hydadcr=29775\_15007551\_2521944&mcid=a5a95e64e7743c5da6d13d5817ddf1ad&tag=googhydr-20&ref=pd\_sl\_g1ohfxyxc\_e](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=christopher+logue+iliad&adgrpid=185087476263&hvadid=792839067338&hvdev=c&hvexpln=0&hvlocphy=9001883&hvnetw=g&hvocijid=1460242865170217754--&hvqmt=e&hvrand=1460242865170217754&hvtargid=kwd-316426243184&hydadcr=29775_15007551_2521944&mcid=a5a95e64e7743c5da6d13d5817ddf1ad&tag=googhydr-20&ref=pd_sl_g1ohfxyxc_e) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-of-an-unusual-nature/1032141/59 "2026-08-05T16:36:45Z")
Dennis Wheatley and J. G. Links put out a series of “crime dossiers” in the 1930s. They purported to be actual files from a police case, not just transcripts of interviews [but some actual physical objects collected at the scene, like hairs and matches](https://blogs.lib.unc.edu/rbc/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2012/12/hair_wheatly2color.jpg). (The hairs were individually stuffed in by a squad of women, very bored women.) By looking carefully at the evidence the reader was supposed to act as a detective and solve the case. Wheatley and Links were British and the dossiers sold so massively that they got redone - reprinted isn’t quite the right word - in America several times along with later imitations. > [@Quondam\_Mechanic](#): > > Much of the book is unusual in content rather than form, but the frame story for Barth’s _Lost in the Funhouse_ is supposed to be folded and pasted into a Möbius strip. Did you mean “Menelaiad”, a story in the collection _Lost in the Funhouse_? “Menelaiad” has a frame story that goes seven levels of quotes deep. > " ’ " ’ “Seasick,” she admitted. “Throwing up.” To my just query, why she repaid in so close-kneed coin my failure to butcher her in Troy, she answered-’ > " ’ " ‘Let me guess’, requested Proteus." > " ’ “What I said in Troy.” said offshore Helen. “What I say to you now.”’ > [@dorvann](#): > > After Marvel Comic writer Mark Gruenwald died—he was cremated and his ashes were mixed with the ink used to print the first printing of the trade paperback compilation of the _Squadron Supreme_ 12 part comic book series he wrote in 1985. When Marvel used the band KISS in a comic, they (carefully) cut themselves and mixed the resulting blood in with the ink used to print it. > [@CalMeacham](#): > > It’s not the only book printed in “landscape”. During WWII, the military worked with publishers to create the Armed Forces Editions, free books that would be distributed in the millions to the troops. Over 1300 were created in less than four years. All were printed sideways. Two books were printed on a page simultaneously, and then the pages were cut in half to make a 4" x 6" paperback, with the binding on the short side. Finding two books with nearly the exact same page length, so that the minimum amount of paper was wasted on blank pages, was always a problem, though. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-of-an-unusual-nature/1032141/60 "2026-08-05T16:47:54Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > During WWII, the military worked with publishers to create the Armed Forces Editions, free books that would be distributed in the millions to the troops. When I went to the Kansas City Worldcon (MidAmericon II) they had a large display of Armed Forces Edition science fiction books. Wow! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-of-an-unusual-nature/1032141.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-of-an-unusual-nature/1032141.md?page=4)