CONFESS!!! What strange book do you own in your collection?

[LynneSin]

Imagine I was coming over to your place to borrow a book and on your bookshelf is EVERY book you own including a few you might have stashed away out of site. What strange books would I find in your collection.

Me? I own a book about Sexual Dysfunctions written sometime in the 1960s. I didn't actually buy the book, but it came in a box with some other paperback books that were a little more on the normal side. The book is actually somewhat creepy in the stuff they describe. I probably should just toss it, but it's in a box filled with other paperback books I've never read

[Magrittes Pipe]

1. I have a Gideon's Bible I stole from the Howard Johnson.

I hadn't gotten to that part yet. :(

[kick-ass-bob]

2. Here:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/088404632X.01._PIdp-schmoo2,TopRight,7,-26_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg


:rofl:

j/k

[NoPasaran]

3. I have a Classical Greek---English dictionary from the 19th Century

I have never attempted to read anything written in Classical Greek.

[atreides1]

4. Here's mine

History of the Highlands and the Highland Clans, VOL II.

It was written in 1849. I had borrowed it from a public library when we were stationed in Hawaii. When were reassigned I couldn't find it,
and went to the library to pay for it, they only charged me $15.00, because it seems that they were going to get rid of it anyway.

It's very good book, if you have an interest in Scotland and it's history.

[blindpig]

5. Diary of a Drug Fiend

by Alistair Crowley, 1st edition. A strange piece of work, that one.

[xmas74]

13. I have one of his books too.

[chickenscratching]

6. How to Sell Footwear Profitably

[LynneSin]

7. have you suceeded

:shrug:

[chickenscratching]

12. oh, no, not in a landslide

it was written in the 60's, and the guy who wrote the book is just an itty bit off kilter. A LITTLE too obsessed about selling shoes, and not in a friendly sniffa type way.

i'll never learn the business properly!!! :cry:

[sniffa]

8. awesome!

you kick ass! :loveya:

[Bob3]

19. by Al Bundy I assume?

N/T

[ghostsofgiants]

9. The closest thing to a strange book I own is "House Of Leaves"

It's by Mark Z. Danielewski (the brother of Poe, the singer). It's not strange in the "why the fuck would you have a book like that?" sense, it's just a weird book to read. I've heard it described as "existentialist horror" or something.

[crispini]

36. Now THAT's a cool book.

Very, very interesting. A great read.

[sniffa]

10. footsucker by geoff nichoLson

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0879516801/104-2084478-1063942?v=glance

they have it in paperback now.

[chickenscratching]

14. nice!

:loveya:

you're certainly driving me wild this morning!

[Beware the Beast Man]

11. How to Live With Your Neurotic Cat.

It's a parody, but still...

[Wickerman]

15. lol

I love strange books.

How about, Life, How to Live by Brevs Mekis, supposed character in R.E.M.'s Life and How to Live.

Or, my collection of Rock n Roll is Satan books from the 70's, or, the collection of counter-culture and counter counter culture books of the 60's, propoganda from both sides. I also have a whole collection of godless communist books and the liberals are coming to eat your children books from the 40's and 50's that I refuse to let out of the boxes they reside in. I can't throw a book away, but I sure ain't letting them loose on the Goodwills of the world.

[Blue-Jay]

16. A Freep-type rant book from the Kennedy era.

I think the title is "America....LISTEN UP!" or something like that. It's pretty entertaining to be honest. Gives a good insight on the political atmosphere in the early days of the Kennedy administration.

Oh, and I stole the book from the lobby of a junkyard about ten years ago.

[johnnie]

17. Getting Even: The Complete Book of Dirty Tricks

By George Hayduke.

It's one of my strange books. It has some really nasty things to do to people. One was a concoction that makes people shit their pants uncontrollably, one was something about putting roadkill in someones car while they are gone on vacation, super-gluing their car locks..it goes on and on.
Some are really funny, and some are just downright cruel.

[Bob3]

18. Lots of weird stuff - some I've actually read

First several books by Jon Keel - The Mothman Prophecies (I read that long before the awful film); This Haunted Earth, Disneyland of the Gods. Bunch of Books on lake monsters and the like - the paranormals a hobby of mine - Two books on the Men in Black.

Books on the gnostic Gospel and books like Holy Blood Holy Grail and the Templar Secret were Brown got most of back round from.

Not just books by but books on Louis Ferdinand Celine one of the great monsters of French Literature.

[Texasgal]

20. I have a few

I own the Satanic versus by ( Salmon Rushdie) Sp?

I also have the complete Hanukkah sing along book for cats.

[Bridget Burke]

21. A couple of odd ones....

"Dear Dead Days" by Charles Addams comes to mind. It's not a collection of his cartoons, but a miscellany of old pictures (mostly engravings) that inspired him. Victorian oddities, curiosities of nature, etc. Alibris has some copies but Amazon.com won't admit it exists.

And "The Golden Guide to Hallucinogenic Plants"--part of the compact series on the wonders of nature (wildflowers, birds, etc.)

Hey, the whole thing is online: www.erowid.org/library/books_online/golden_guide/index.shtml

[Liberal Veteran]

22. The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.

:shrug:

[scarlet_owl]

23. I have the Danny Bonaduce autobiography.

My sister got it for me as a gag gift.

[On the Road]

24. I Have a Bengali Phrase Book

which was given to me as a joke gift. The fascinating thing about it is: if you look up the word for "dog", for example, it will give you the word in Bengali with absolutely no clue as to how to pronounce it. Very useful.

[Mizmoon]

25. "The Lobotomist"

Everyone needs a lobotomy apologist book ...

[Hugin]

26. I have a whole library of strange books...

What can I say? I'm a compulsive reader and things have
a way of finding their way to me. It's not like I seek
them out.

I think it'd be easier to tell you what I *don't* have.

[InvisibleTouch]

27. Stashed away somewhere I have several books on...

...how to become a ninja. Seriously. :)

[Redstone]

28. I have a cookbook titled: "Recipes for People Who Eat Food."

I kid you not. It's a Velveeto promo cookbook put out by Kraft.

It's a goddamn riot. For example, there's a mac & cheese recipe that calls for two boxes of macaroni, TWO POUNDS of Velveeta, and for seasoning? One dash of black pepper.

Someday, I'll scan that puppy and put it one my website so you can all enjoy it. You'll howl.

Redstone

[ikri]

29. Buddhism for Sheep

Buddhism for Sheep

Not really that strange, but very funny.

[Dukkha]

30. The Satanic Bible

written by that con artist Anton Lavay

[trof]

31. "Manifold Destiny"-cooking on your engine block.

Strictly a conversation piece.

[noonwitch]

32. The Story Of O

It's interesting, however.

[Abies]

33. Vitalogy

Health and life advice from the turn of the last century.

It is on line: http://www.geneffects.com/vitalogy/

On gum as a gateway drug--

"Chewing Gum
The habit of chewing spruce or any other gum is not only filthy and unpleasant, but is also destructive to health, and parents cannot be too careful to guard their children against it. If the chewer spit the saliva from his mouth its loss weakens and exhausts his whole system and seriously impairs his digestion; for the saliva contains important properties which are all needed and are essential in the process of digestion. If the saliva be swallowed, impregnated as it is with the stimulating properties of the gum, it causes inflammation of the stomach, and often serious and troublesome diseases of this character are thus caused. It also not infrequently leads to the young use of tobacco."

[Rowdyboy]

34. "Against the Grain" by J K Huysmans

Strange little piece

[Lautremont]

47. I've got that one too.

Two copies, actually - go figure.

[Bridget Burke]

49. With a name like "Lautremont"....

I'm not surprised.

Decadence is not what it used to be.

[Rowdyboy]

53. Its probably the oddest book in my collection....

Its so very, very rich, its like eating incredibly rich food, dripping in butter and cream.

[trackfan]

35. I have 4,000 books, so there are a lot of strange ones

on my shelves. "Sane Sex Life and Sane Sex Living" from about 1918 is a pretty good one. "Florentine Locutions", about Tuscan swear words, is one of the more interesting volumes.

[crispini]

37. I have a propaganda book by the Chinese government on Tiananmen square.

It carefully explains how the protestors were these big destructive criminal malefactors. :eyes:

I also have a book which is entitled "COCK: Indian Firework Art" and it's basically a collection of pop art on Indian firework packages. Pretty cool stuff.

[fishnfla]

38. I own a Latin textbook of a Titanic victim's nephew

A Minehan whose uncle died on the Titanic (he was portrayed in a scene in the movie)

The kid enede up committing suicide

[Strawman]

39. Alien Sex

Not so much into sci fi, but I bought it after taking a modern American lit class where we read some. I can't remember if any of the stories were good or not.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0451451422/qid=1118246694/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/002-2891458-8991256?v=glance&s=books

[Samurai_Writer]

40. A book of dirty limericks

I have a lot of strange books, actually. I also have a book on the Most Evil Women in History, about famous female killers.

[kodi]

41. a copy of The Plictho by Gioanventura Rosetti

.

[Arianrhod]

42. "Naked Lunch" by William S Burroughs. n/t

[Crankie Avalon]

43. "Freaks" by Leslie Fiedler...

...I picked it up from a little used book shop in Dupont Circle when I was on a business trip in DC.

[Merrick]

44. "The Sky is Falling" - a collection of photos of people who were killed

by things falling from the sky - like meteorites hitting farmers and stuff like that.

[sniffa]

45. i gotta go hunt that down

that sounds great.

[Heidi]

46. "The Strange Inventions of Nicola Tesla."

I don't really think it's strange, but a lot of people who visit our home think it's strange. What the heck? Tesla was brilliant. :shrug:

[RedCloud]

48. Deceptions and Myths of the BIBLE

An interesting read.

[WeRQ4U]

50. Microwaving on a Diet

My wife and I found it at a used book store. It's old and it's hilarious.

Edit: To add picture

[MsAnthropy]

51. Good Time Girls of the Alaska-Yukon Gold Rush

My brother gave it to me for Christmas one year. It's about how the Gold Rush hookers helped to settle (in more ways than one) the territory. Some of them got pretty rich on lonely men with nothing to their names but gold!

[coolhandlulu]

52. The Satanic Witch

by Anton Lavey

I'm not a satanist, but it's actually quite interesting.

[Debbi801]

54. Screw The Roses, Send Me The Thorns.

:-)

[enigmatic]

55. Wisconsin Death Trip by Michael Lesy and The Satanic Bible..

I've loved Wisconsin Death Trip since I was a little kid and freaked out looking at my brother's copy; The Satanic Bible I picked up at a community garage sale at a church!! You should have seen the nice elderly lady's face when I handed it to her w/ my money...

[VelmaD]

56. I collect novelizations of cheesy movies...

so I have a hardback edition of "Clash of the Titans".

I've also got the paperbacks of "Krull" and "Highlander". Pretty sad. :)

[Ivan Sputnik]

57. The Interrupted Journey

by John G. Fuller, 1966. All about the original alien abductees, Betty and Barney Hill. Well written and disturbing. I picked it up in a used book store.

[Left Is Write]

58. Most of my books are packed in boxes. All my bookcases are

full, and the rest of the stuff is packed in lots of boxes. Chances of you finding a truly strange book are kind of slim, but let me see what's on the bookshelves.

Ah, nothing too weird, though I do have an early 1970s copy of Cosmpolitan's guide to sex, written by Helen Gurley Brown. And, my goodness, things WERE different then!

[arwalden]

59. I'd Better Not Say.