or, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Fear and Loathing at a Public Library Reference Desk



Caption This Photo

   November 22nd, 2011

My cousin Karin forwarded me an email of the photo below, with the subject, "Now out in Paperback!!!"

Now out in paperback image

I have no idea what it actually is, but I thought it was a funny picture - except, the message's subject didn't have quite the jokey punch it could have. So of course, I tried to think up funny captions for it. The only one I came up with that I liked was, "Wikipedia: now out in paperback."

Does anyone else have better captions for this photo? I'm going to be away for week for Thanksgiving, so in the meantime, if you have a caption idea, please leave it in the comments below. Thanks, and Happy Thanksgiving (Americans; everyone else, Happy End of November).




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22 Responses to “Caption This Photo”

  1. Todd Says:

    Hey, why is “How to Kill Bugs” blank inside?

    …oh.

  2. Mark Says:

    Now out in paperback: “Hernias for Dummies”

  3. Cressida Says:

    Slinky: the Manual.

  4. Deb Roy Says:

    Oh dear, we left out page 1204…

  5. Marleah Says:

    I’ve actually seen this passed around via email, titled “How to Understand Women”.

    I remember seeing an article somewhere that said what the book really was but I haven’t been able to find it.

  6. Marleah Says:

    Update – This could be it! “Poetry City Marathon”

    http://www.kwwl.com/story/13908382/2-foot-thick-book-of-poetry-a-world-record?clienttype=printable

  7. Margaret Says:

    When you absolutely, positively have to know…

  8. Todd Says:

    The Comprehensive Guide to Concise Writing, Vol. I

  9. Erin Says:

    National Union Catalog?

    My co-worker says, Must be the new Stephen King book.

  10. Kathy Says:

    One time I really did have a patron ask in all seriousness if there were a print index for the internet.

  11. Erica Says:

    I’ve seen the “How to Understand Women” caption, too. Unfortunately, I saw it as a book request forwarded by a colleague (I don’t think she looked at the photo or knew it was a [bad]joke when she sent it to me).

    I’m getting a kick out of Hernias for Dummies, though I’m afraid it might be the newest version of the Terms and Conditions that you have to pretend you read before you can access iTunes.

  12. Chris Skaryd Says:

    Whatever that is, it’s screaming for a Kindle edition.

  13. Denise Says:

    Hmm…it looks too short to be the current tax code.

  14. laura Says:

    Yes, it is from the Poetry City Marathon, and the book lives here in my hometown. 🙂 Here’s another report about it, featuring the photo above.

  15. Dan Says:

    Readers’ Advisory: A Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Book

  16. ash966 Says:

    I love Dave Morice! He spoke at my junior high once. His Poetry Comics books are great.

  17. Akd Says:

    “It appears the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction sent this to our library by mistake.”

  18. Katherine Says:

    I was surprised to see a picture from the University of Iowa when I was checking up on your blog. I have provided a few links regarding that monster of a book.

    http://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/preservation/2011/01/07/10000-page-book-bound-at-conservation-lab/

    http://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/preservation/2011/01/13/big-book-explained/

    As for a caption: “Budget Cuts and the Arts”

  19. Donna Says:

    I get paid by the page, just saying.

  20. Diana Moore Says:

    Stolen! Santa’s “Naughty List!” Check if your name is there…

  21. Jane Says:

    Bill’s little black book was getting out of hand…

  22. Brian Herzog Says:

    No offense, but I’m kind of surprised at how funny these are. The other one I came up with was, “man, I hate it when non-fiction books don’t have an index.”

    @Marleah, @laura, and @Katherine: thanks for the links on the origins of this image – it’s actually nice to know this is a real book. Amazing. And it reminds me of the Giant Swiss Army Knife.