Cheese wins in odd book prize

ALL CHEESE: The winner of 2008's oddest book title is a novel about cheese.

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The prize for oddest book title of 2008 has been awarded to The 2009-2014 World Outlook for 60-milligram Containers of Fromage Frais, thanks to a late surge in popularity, The Bookseller magazine said.

Philip M Parker's Fromage Frais, which literally means "fresh cheese" in French, beat out titles such as Baboon Metaphysiscs, Curbside Consultation of the Colon and Strip and Knit with Style in the annual competition run by the British magazine.

According to online bookstore Amazon.com, Parker's book costs a stunning $795. The website gives no indication as to what it is about, but it takes up to two months to deliver.

"I'm thrilled that the public steered clear of smut... and turned the supermarket chiller into the Petri dish of literary innovation," said Horace Bent, custodian of the prize.

Parker's book claimed first place with 32 percent of the 5034 votes cast on theBookseller.com, beating out early favourite Techniques for Corrosion Monitoring.

Baboon Metaphysics placed second with 22 percent of the vote, while Colon trailed close behind with 18 percent.

The prize was dreamed up at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 1978 as a way of avoiding boredom.

Past winners have included titles such as Bombproof Your Horse (2004), Butterworths Corporate Manslaughter Service (2001), and Reusing Old Graves (1995).