Abe Books' Weird Book Room
October 10, 2010 1:56 PM   Subscribe

The Weird Book Room at AbeBooks.com l Their Weird Travel Books l Weird Cookbooks l Bonus links: Une Semaine de Bonté – Max Ernst’s Surreal Masterpiece and their Codex Seraphinianus page.
posted by nickyskye (24 comments total) 26 users marked this as a favorite
 
Waiting with baited breath for the arrival of Jewish Chess Masters on Stamps!
posted by Roachbeard at 2:31 PM on October 10, 2010


Why isn't this on the Weird Cookbooks page?
posted by Confess, Fletch at 2:33 PM on October 10, 2010


Why isn't this on the Weird Cookbooks page?

AbeBooks encourages anyone to send them suggestions to: weirdbooks (at) abebooks.com
posted by nickyskye at 2:51 PM on October 10, 2010


Waiting with baited breath for the arrival of Jewish Chess Masters on Stamps!

Do you use nightcrawlers or some sort of artificial lure?
posted by Justinian at 3:05 PM on October 10, 2010 [4 favorites]


It wouldn't make the list, but the weirdest cookbook I own is Richard Condon's "The Mexican Stove". And, it's not nearly the weirdest book Condon wrote, everyone should try and hunt down a copy of the Keeners' Manual.
posted by Elmore at 3:43 PM on October 10, 2010


There's a book about the Soldier Bear!
posted by anotherkate at 4:00 PM on October 10, 2010


Those cookbooks aren't all that weird. I mean, a Star Wars tie-in cookbook is weird? Heck, The Decadent Cookbook is weirder than that, and it's not all that weird.
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:30 PM on October 10, 2010


I've handled several of these in the course of my job. and some other selctions.
posted by jonmc at 4:40 PM on October 10, 2010


Cool. We live in Victoria, BC where Abebooks is located. My brother just interviewed for them *fingers crossed* Maybe he can get me a discount, I really want the All About Scabs picturebook (Barf!).
posted by 1000monkeys at 4:58 PM on October 10, 2010


Oh, man. The Cadogan cargo ship travel guide. I don't think I ever bought it, but I used to -moon- over that damn thing, back when I was working in bookstores.

It breaks my heart that it hasn't been updated since 1995.
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 5:04 PM on October 10, 2010


How to Draw a Straight Line.

Previously.
posted by Tube at 5:43 PM on October 10, 2010


Ah, I love Une Semaine de Bonté! Equally classic is Ernst's second collage book: A Little Girl Dreams of Taking the Veil.
posted by malocchio at 7:15 PM on October 10, 2010


USAGE The spelling baited breath instead of bated breath is a common mistake that, in addition to perpetuating a cliché, evokes a distasteful image. Before using the expression bated breath, think of the verb | abate, as in | the winds abated, not fish bait.

Have to stop posting on here!
posted by Roachbeard at 7:19 PM on October 10, 2010


So my 1983 edition of the Codex is worth five hundred bucks, eh? Guess I'll keep it in the plastic bag for a few more decades and really clean up!
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 8:13 PM on October 10, 2010


That cook book about ooking on your car engine? My dad totally got sent that as a newspaper editor who was frequently mistaken by publishers as a book reviewer. I thought it was hilarious when I was about 12, and spent a whole summer trying to get my folks to let me make beef stew on the intake plenum of their Corolla. Good times.
posted by littlerobothead at 10:03 PM on October 10, 2010


The 2006 Codex Seraphinianus is going for just $120 shipped, on the other hand. To me, my precioussssss...
posted by Zed at 10:54 PM on October 10, 2010




everyone should try and hunt down a copy of the Keeners' Manual.

I see what you did there..
posted by Philby at 5:06 AM on October 11, 2010


Goldmine!

In about a month I'm giving a conference presentation on 'Books with Stupid Titles or Covers Featuring the National Socialist Government of Germany 1933-1945'. (It's at Interesting North.) While my personal collection of such things will probably get me through, I'm always on the lookout for more. All advice &c.
posted by Hogshead at 6:44 AM on October 11, 2010


Une Semaine de Bonté. *Throws hugs and kisses* in direction of nickyskye.
ordered.
checks mailbox. 10 days. *sighs* .
posted by adamvasco at 7:31 AM on October 11, 2010 [1 favorite]


Boy, once you hear about Une semaine de bonté, you start seeing it everywhere.
posted by Zed at 10:47 AM on October 11, 2010 [2 favorites]


Too cool. I could spend so much money in the weird book room... reminds me of the kind of weirdo shit I'd always gravitate to as a kid whenever I was given access to the bookshelves of older relatives.

The Cadaver Dogs Handbook threw me for a minute, though. I thought it must be some kind of pet taxidermy manual until I noticed the dog on the cover seemed a little more animate than the title would imply.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 10:48 AM on October 11, 2010


I'm always on the lookout for more. All advice &c.

'Don't know if Golfing for Cats applies?
posted by ovvl at 11:11 AM on October 11, 2010


Ovvl, I have Golfing for Cats and When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, which between them are probably the two best-known examples. Golfing for Cats actually underlies several of the themes of the talk, namely that humour and shock value aren't necessarily great ways of selling books, particularly if Nazis are involved.
posted by Hogshead at 11:22 AM on October 11, 2010


« Older For anyone making the plunge, Miller has advice:...   |   Rendez-vous auf den Champs-Elysées Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments