September 30, 2011
Burn after reading

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From time to time, I participate in some harmless joking around on Twitter.

Playing Twitter hashtag games probably marks me as a big nerd, but it’s a nice break from gazing at my Star Trek: Deep Space Nine memorabilia. (Just kidding; I’d never be so careless as to expo my collectables to direct light.)

One hashtag I use in some tweets is #lessinterestingbooks.

The idea is to take the well-known title of a beloved book and make it “less interesting.” A few of my gems:

·         The Chronicles of Narnia = The Chronicles of Norman

·         Lord of the Flies = Lord of the Fries

I’m not particularly great at it, largely because my mind usually strays to the double entendre. Those are hardly less interesting. For example, I became stuck on this, which isn’t dull:

The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe = The Lampost, The Whip, and The Bathrobe

Of course, a book’s title is serious business. It must be so many things—intriguing, meaningful, interesting, memorable and more.

Tongue-in-cheek titles certainly do that. Several grace the Traders Press® catalog. My quick list:

·         Safe Sex on Wall Street

·         Jackass Investing

·         Option Profits: The Naked Truth

·         We’re ALL Screwed!

Then there are those that require a ton of explanation, which really flies in the face of Book-Naming 101. As far as I’m concerned, Where are the Customers’ Yachts? tops this list.

If you’re disappointed to learn I waste brain cells conjuring silly book titles, consider there are others far worse than I. When I polled staffers on the topic, I discovered a few people who can make anything sound “questionable” just by stressing the right words.

What titles have I overlooked? Which are your favorites? Send me yours at karris@traderspress.com.

 

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