Every year, one book wins the Diagram Prize for the oddest book title of the year. The year 2020 is the 42nd such competition, and a Canadian author has won for the first time. That would be anthropologist Gregory Forth of the University of Alberta.
A Dog Pissing at the Edge of a Path showed a remarkably clean pair of paws to the rest of the field, notching up 49% of the public vote—26 percentage points clear of second-place finisher, Introducing the Medieval Ass.
Horace Bent, The Bookseller legendary diarist and The Diagram Prize administrator, said: “There has been little to shout about in a difficult year, but A Dog Pissing at the Edge of a Path is something to cherish, as long as you stay a good metre or two away and, perhaps, wear some stout wellies. Congratulations to Gregory Forth and McGill-Queen’s University Press: I am sure the champagne—or I guess something else—will certainly be flowing as they celebrate A Dog Pissing’s hard-earned victory."
The book is about animal metaphors in Indonesia. Other titles in the shortlist were Classical Antiquity in Heavy Metal Music, Lawnmowers: An Illustrated History, The Slaughter of Farmed Animals: Practical Ways of Enhancing Animal Welfare, and How to Make Love to a Despot. Read more on the award at The Bookseller. -via Kottke