One of my favorite features of the Abebooks used-book website is the Weird Books Room. This is the section of the site that includes titles such as Do It Yourself Coffins, Bombproof Your Horse, Farm Tractors in New Zealand, Land Slugs of Russia, A New Look at Wife-Swapping and London Transport Bus Garages Since 1948.
They are not all bad books; I’m not actually sure all of them are that weird. One Good Turn, a history of screws and screwdrivers, is very good, and it’s not like I’m into handyman stuff. Land Slugs of Russia sounds like a standard (though obviously specialized) wildlife identification guide. And despite the title, Bombproof Your Horse has a good concept, teaching your horse to stay calm under pressure.
That said, London Transport Bus Garages Since 1948 seems, well … really, really specialized. Ditto the Atlas of the Fleas of Britain and Ireland, The Invention of Curried Sausage and How to Land a Top-Paying Pierogi-Maker’s Job.
But still, I get a kick out of knowing the books exist. I’ve read articles about people in publishing who actually complain about the existence of books like these. They’re not great literature, they’re not launching paradigm shifts, they’re obscure works on obscure topics. And therefore, it’s implied, worthless.
I honestly can’t see that. And I’d like to think every one of them found an avid reader somewhere. Though I admit the number of people interested in reading a history of curried sausage may be on the small side.
