# Name that fictional book!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-fictional-book/402913
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [May 5, 2007, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-fictional-book/402913 "2007-05-05T18:16:19Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2007, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-fictional-book/402913/1 "2007-05-05T18:16:19Z")
Remember [Name That Street](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=384498), [Name that Machine](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=384705) and [Name That Pet](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=385072)?
It’s time for Name That Book!
Below is a list of fictional books. These titles are referenced in movies, books, comics, television shows and in other fictional media. Can you name where the fictional book comes from?
Encyclopedia Frobozzica
Handbook for Messiahs
Hamster Huey and the Gooey Kablooie
The Murder of Gonzago
Never Whistle While You’re Pissing
Nymphs and their Ways
Or I Will Sell My Soul For Guilt
The Secret Goldfish
The Case of the Poisoned Doughnut
Confession of a White Widowed Male
Heavy Game in the Western Himalayas
Mr. Bunnsy Has an Adventure
The Six Bunny-Wunnies and Their Layover in Anderson, Indiana
Orange Catholic Liturgical Manual
Men of Fire and Women of Air
The Mad Tryst
How to Become a Fancy Waiter in Less Than 20 Minutes
Necronomicon
Speaker for the Dead: The Hivequeen and the Hegemon
Squornshellous Swamptalk
Gadding with Ghouls
The Corpse Danced at Midnight
T and Me
Book of Mazarbul
Twurp’s Peerage
Protocols of the Elders of the Trafalmadore
David Coperfield
Peter Flowerbuck
Curious George and the Ebola Virus
Photons Be Free
Great Machete Battles
Biography of a Dead Cow
Encyclopedia Galactica
Encyclopedia Hypnotica
The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism
Misery’s Quest
A Coffee Table Book About Coffee Tables
Pop-up Kama Sutra
Electronics for Dogs
A Match Made in Space
De Vermis Mysteriis
Tobin’s Spirit Guide
Attempt at a Uniform and Pragmatic Classification of the Neuroses and Psychoses, Based on an Examination of Fifteen Hundred Pre-Krapaelin and Post-Krapaelin Cases as they would be Diagnosed in the Terminology of the Different Contemporary Schools Together with a Chronology of Such Subdivisions of Opinion as Have Arisen Independently
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### Author:  [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2007, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-fictional-book/402913/2 "2007-05-05T18:37:30Z")
Handbook for Messiahs - _Illuisons_ by Richard Bach (ehich, oddly eough is the only book that is in my direct line of sight right now)
Hamster Huey and the Gooey Kablooie - Various locations in the comic Strip _Calvin and Hobbes_
The Murder of Gonzago - the Play-within-the-play in Shakespeare’s _Hamlet_
The Six Bunny-Wunnies and Their Layover in Anderson, Indiana - from _Peanuts_ - I think he did a whole series of Bunny-Wunnies books
Orange Catholic Liturgical Manual - _Dune_
Necronomicon - Lovecraft. Many references
The Protocols of the Elders of Tralfamadore - Gotta be Kurt Vonnegut - one of the many books ‘written’ by Kilgore Trout
How to Become a Fancy Waiter in Less Than 20 Minutes - _Spongebob Squarepants_
Encyclopedia Galactica - _Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_
A Match Made in Space - _Back to the Future_
Tobin’s Spirit Guide - _Ghostbusters_
---
### Author:  [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2007, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-fictional-book/402913/3 "2007-05-05T18:38:33Z")
Necronomicon - **The Evil Dead movies?**
Speaker for the Dead: The Hivequeen and the Hegemon - **Orson Scott Card’s Ender books, not sure which one specifically.**
Misery’s Quest - **Stephen King’s Misery (about an author of a series of trashy novels with a heroine named Misery)**
A Coffee Table Book About Coffee Tables - **Seinfeld (Kramer’s book, he demonstrates it to Regis Philbin and Kathy Lee Gifford on their show)**
---
### Author:  [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2007, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-fictional-book/402913/4 "2007-05-05T18:46:44Z")
[QUOTE=lawoot]
Encyclopedia Galactica - _Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_
[/QUOTE]
True, Douglas Adams borrows the name. But _Encyclopedia Galactica_ didn’t come from Hitchhiker’s.
Adams blatantly uses the title to parody a fictional book of the same name, which came from a better-known serious work called… ? 🙂
---
### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2007, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-fictional-book/402913/5 "2007-05-05T18:48:30Z")
The Murder of Gonzago - Hamlet, I believe.
Never Whistle While You’re Pissing - by Hagbard Celine (From the Illuminatus! trilogy)
Twurp’s Peerage - From the Diskworld (Terry Pratchett)\
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### Author:  [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2007, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-fictional-book/402913/6 "2007-05-05T18:54:59Z")
The Encyclopedia Galactica figures prominently in the Foundation series.
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### Author:  [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2007, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-fictional-book/402913/7 "2007-05-05T19:01:38Z")
Here’s what remains:
Encyclopedia Frobozzica
Nymphs and their Ways
Or I Will Sell My Soul For Guilt
The Secret Goldfish
The Case of the Poisoned Doughnut
Confession of a White Widowed Male
Heavy Game in the Western Himalayas
Mr. Bunnsy Has an Adventure
Men of Fire and Women of Air
The Mad Tryst
Squornshellous Swamptalk
Gadding with Ghouls
The Corpse Danced at Midnight
T and Me
Book of Mazarbul
David Coperfield
Peter Flowerbuck
Curious George and the Ebola Virus
Photons Be Free
Great Machete Battles
Biography of a Dead Cow
Encyclopedia Hypnotica
The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism
Pop-up Kama Sutra
Electronics for Dogs
De Vermis Mysteriis
Attempt at a Uniform and Pragmatic Classification of the Neuroses and Psychoses, Based on an Examination of Fifteen Hundred Pre-Krapaelin and Post-Krapaelin Cases as they would be Diagnosed in the Terminology of the Different Contemporary Schools Together with a Chronology of Such Subdivisions of Opinion as Have Arisen Independently
---
### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2007, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-fictional-book/402913/8 "2007-05-05T19:09:54Z")
[QUOTE=Fish]
Electronics for Dogs
[/QUOTE]
Several of these could be also, but I’m almost certain that’s from a _Far Side_.
---
### Author:  [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2007, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-fictional-book/402913/9 "2007-05-05T19:20:45Z")
**Encyclopedia Frobozzica** - one of the Zork games (though I’m not sure which)
**Book of Mazarbul** - Lord of the Rings, the history of Khazad-dum
**De Vermiis Mysteriis** - Various Cthulhu mythos stories…“Jerusalem’s Lot” for one.
Here’s an addition to your list: “Ethel the Aardvark Goes Quantity Surveying”
---
### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2007, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-fictional-book/402913/10 "2007-05-05T19:24:59Z")
[QUOTE=jayjay]
Ethel the Aardvark Goes Quantity Surveying
[/QUOTE]
Hint: It’s on the shelf next to _Olsen’s Standard Book of British Birds_.
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### Author:  [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2007, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-fictional-book/402913/11 "2007-05-05T19:27:27Z")
**Knead To Know** , I’m not thinking of _The Far Side_ for “Electronics for Dogs.” This source is animated.
Also, you and **jayjay** are going to so kick yourselves for not seeing it…
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### Author:  [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2007, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-fictional-book/402913/12 "2007-05-05T19:29:20Z")
**Biography of a Dead Cow** – Bierce.
\*\*
Attempt at a Uniform and Pragmatic Classification of the Neuroses and Psychoses, Based on an Examination of Fifteen Hundred Pre-Krapaelin and Post-Krapaelin Cases as they would be Diagnosed in the Terminology of the Different Contemporary Schools Together with a Chronology of Such Subdivisions of Opinion as Have Arisen Independently\*\* – Fitzgerald
**The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism** – Orwell
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### Author:  [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2007, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-fictional-book/402913/13 "2007-05-05T19:30:16Z")
Electronics for Dogs is from Wallace and Gromit (definitely The Wrong Trousers, possibly other episodes as well).
Ethel the Aardvark and Olsen’s British Birds are from a Monty Python skit (don’t forget Grate Expectations, and A Sale of Two Titties).
---
### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2007, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-fictional-book/402913/14 "2007-05-05T19:34:21Z")
Aw, crap. I was mere moments away from that same conclusion on _Electronics_, **Lagomorph**.
Note to the curious: the fictional version of _Olsen’s_ is, properly, the _Expurgated Version_.
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### Author:  [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2007, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-fictional-book/402913/15 "2007-05-05T19:37:21Z")
Here is what remains:
Nymphs and their Ways
Or I Will Sell My Soul For Guilt
The Secret Goldfish
The Case of the Poisoned Doughnut
Confession of a White Widowed Male
Heavy Game in the Western Himalayas
Mr. Bunnsy Has an Adventure
Men of Fire and Women of Air
The Mad Tryst
Squornshellous Swamptalk
Gadding with Ghouls
The Corpse Danced at Midnight
T and Me
David Coperfield
Peter Flowerbuck
Curious George and the Ebola Virus
Photons Be Free
Great Machete Battles
Encyclopedia Hypnotica
Pop-up Kama Sutra
Also, check out [Name That Ship.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=419618)
---
### Author:  [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2007, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-fictional-book/402913/16 "2007-05-05T19:45:04Z")
Well, Encyclopedia Frobozznica is from the old Infocom adventures, either the Zork or the Enchanter series.
De Vermis Mysteriis is from Lovecraft or one of his circle. (So is the Necronomicon, originally. The Evil Dead movies got it from there.)
---
### Author:  [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2007, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-fictional-book/402913/17 "2007-05-05T19:46:36Z")
[QUOTE=tanstaafl]
Well, Encyclopedia Frobozznica is from the old Infocom adventures, either the Zork or the Enchanter series.
De Vermis Mysteriis is from Lovecraft or one of his circle. (So is the Necronomicon, originally. The Evil Dead movies got it from there.)
[/QUOTE]
And that’s what I get for walking away from my keyboard while others answer… :smack:
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### Author:  [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2007, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-fictional-book/402913/18 "2007-05-05T19:53:11Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow]
Note to the curious: the fictional version of _Olsen’s_ is, properly, the _Expurgated Version_.
[/QUOTE]
The one without the gannet…
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### Author:  [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2007, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-fictional-book/402913/19 "2007-05-05T19:55:07Z")
[QUOTE=Fish]
Also, you and **jayjay** are going to so kick yourselves for not seeing it…
[/QUOTE]
David Coperfield by Edmund Wells…
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### Author:  [@Reepicheep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reepicheep)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2007, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-fictional-book/402913/20 "2007-05-05T19:55:37Z")
Nymphs and their Ways - _The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe_
Gadding with Ghouls - \* Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets\*
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