A shopping trolley lies in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart in Vandalia, Illinois. Photograph: Chris Hondros/Getty
Another day, another literary gong. Yet this one beats the pomp of some, or the plain populist lunacy of others (aherm, Richard and Judy). The 29th annual Diagram prize for the Oddest Title of The Year goes to the relatively straightforward The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide To Field Identification. Julian Montague's poignant book, which apparently took him six years to compile, features lonely trolleys sitting abandoned in the likes of fields and lakes.
The enticing Tattooed Mountain Women and Spoon Boxes of Daghestan lost by only 500 votes. Others in the shortlist included bookies' favourite How Green Were the Nazis? and Di Mascio's Delicious Ice Cream, Di Mascio of Coventry, an Ice Cream Company of Repute, with an Interesting and Varied Fleet of Ice Cream Vans - which speaks for itself. The varied subject matter continues with Proceedings of the Eighteenth International Seaweed Symposium and the jolly Better Never To Have Been: the Harm of Coming Into Existence.
The prize was set up by Horace Bent, diarist for the literary trade publication The Bookseller. All have to be real, published books (although some tell that various publishers, aware the publicity being shortlisted will bring, are keen to bung on an extra 30 idiosyncratic words to selected titles). As we speak, Stray Carts is rocketing up the charts. Bent says: "In the fine tradition of the prize -- going on title alone -- I have not yet read my copy of Montague's tome but my appetite has been whetted ..."
Reader reviews on Amazon.com have been kind, albeit a little pedantic. Says one Robin Benson: "The five sections explain all you'll need to know about classifying carts ... The only thing missing, I thought, was some reference to their manufacturers, there can't be too many and they most likely all have unique features."
Last year's bauble went to How People Who Don't Know They're Dead Attach Themselves to Unsuspecting Bystanders and What to Do About It by Gary Leon Hill. Yet in some quarters, naturellement, there are fears that the quality is declining. In the halcyon days, entries included Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude Mice; Weeds in a Changing World; Living with Crazy Buttocks; and Greek Rural Postmen and Their Cancellation Numbers.
But what have the judges missed this year? Are there any other gems that you've found that should have been shortlisted - or could turn up on the 2007 nominations? Or the sequel to Stray Carts ...? Perhaps Wistful Plastic Bags Sitting in Tunnels With Bits Of Old Chicken In Them: A Study. Your thoughts, if you will ...
