Jean Hannah Edelstein's suggestion that books need to be "remasculated" to get men reading has been taken up by Canadian books website Bookninja, which has launched a competition asking for manned-up book titles and plot summaries.
First off the mark is Ira Murdoch and his The Sea, The Sea (And a Giant Sea Bass), in which "an old man withdraws from the world of professional sports fishing to a house by the sea where by extraordinary coincidence he encounters a giant sea bass he almost caught many years before, but no matter how many times he tries to hook 'er, she keeps getting away, thereby revealing his arrogance, entitlement, and solipsism, which he realizes is a pretty awesome way to be".
Genius. Other suggestions include The Handyman's Tale, To the Outhouse, and my favourite, The Ass is Singing by Boris Lessing. We've come up with The French Lieutenant's Musket, The Battle of Peckham Rye by Michael Spark, and Basil Bainbridge's An Awfully Awfully Goddamn Big Adventure.
We loved Bookninja's last contest; let's hope this one produces just as many gems. Any thoughts?
