The Joy of Waterboiling, a German-language guide to cooking meals in a kettle, has been named the oddest book title of the year by the Bookseller.
The magazine’s annual Diagram prize this year pitted titles against each other that included Are Gay Men More Accurate in Detecting Deceits?, Equine Dry Needling, Jesus on Gardening and The Secret History of Dung. A public vote saw The Joy of Waterboiling garner 56% of votes.
The cookery book began life on Kickstarter and features 100 recipes detailing how to prepare meals in a kettle. “Yes, that’s right, you can prepare healthy and delicious meals without a fully equipped kitchen. The only things you need are a waterboiler and our ideas and instructions,” says the pitch, which also lays out publisher Acshe Verlag’s plans to publish the book in other languages. “JOW isn’t just a cookbook, it is a whole movement: JOW’s aim is to create an international community.”
The Bookseller said the Vienna-based publisher had run an impressive social media campaign to win the prize, urging followers to vote for “your fav waterboiling bible”. It is the first foreign-language Diagram winner.
Founded in 1978 to stave off boredom at the Frankfurt book fair, the prize has been won in the past by titles including Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude Mice, How to Avoid Huge Ships and Greek Rural Postmen and Their Cancellation Numbers. Only a book’s title, not its contents, need to be in English for it to be a contender.
Managing editor Tom Tivnan called the win “a metaphorical knocking of the top hat off Jacob Rees-Mogg’s head and spilling a pint of bitter on Nigel Farage’s plus-fours”.
“The Diagram prize voters have said ‘we love Europe, especially their oddly titled books’. This is, loud and clear, a call from the great British public for a second Brexit referendum,” said Tivnan.
Acshe’s chief executive Aram Haus said he was “grateful to the British audience for setting an example of cross-border cultural exchange”.
“We interpret the vote as a sign for Europe … and against Brexit. Europe loves the Scottish, the Irish and the English people and we want to be family,” said Haus.
• This article was amended on 26 November 2018 to correct the spelling of Achse Verlag.
