Shortlist of six of the nation's [UK] strangest book titles revealed

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Previous winners of the accolade, run by The Bookseller magazine, include Oral Sadism and the Vegetarian Personality, How to Avoid Huge Ships and Highlights in the History of Concrete.

Horace Bent, from the magazine said: "In this, the 31st year of the prestigious award, never have I found it so problematic to pick a shortlist of just six.

"At a time when the economic climate is forbidding and cost-cutting companies are ten-a-penny, I'm proud to report that the British publishing industry has remained as stubborn in the face of change as ever.

"Given the economic gloom, I would not have blamed publishers if they'd decided to slash their lists. But it gives me great pleasure to report that diversity lives!"

Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year was devised in 1978 by Bruce Robertson from The Diagram Group, the illustrators, when he was bored at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

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The winner of the 2008 award will be chosen by an internet vote at http://www.thebookseller.com and will be announced on March 27, 2009.

The shortlisted titles are:

* Baboon Metaphysics by Dorothy Dorothy L Cheney and Robert M Seyfarth (University of Chicago Press)

* Curbside Consultation of the Colon by Brooks D Cash (SLACK Incorporated)

* The Large Sieve and its Applications by Emmanuel Kowalski (Cambridge University Press)

* Strip and Knit with Style by Mark Hordyszynski (C&T)

* Techniques for Corrosion Monitoring by Lietai Yang (Woodhead)

* The 2009-2014 World Outlook for 60-milligram Containers of Fromage Frais by Professor Philip M Parker (Icon Group International)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/4736283/Shortlist-of-six-of-the-nations-strangest-book-titles-revealed.html