Oh come on, somewhere in that list of “great book titles you wished you could write” you have something with equal shock value. I used to have a lot of them but I use so many different machines in my travels and work it is difficult to keep them all in one place. I’ve lost many of them but just before writing this I stumbled across a text file containing 2 I had forgotten about. The other was “Dime Novel Sold for 50 Cents.” Admittedly that one could be either a great title or a great insult.
“Hey Fred, what do you think about our new boss?”
“He’s a dime novel sold for 50 cents.”
Without actually insulting it insults the quality of whatever was being discussed. It conveys the mental image of something being grossly oversold, hyped or priced.
I think I came up with both titles when news broke of the junkie Rush Limbaugh getting arrested. It was causing much ado on various message boards as to whether or not he would walk the walk of self deportation after being busted. Of course we all know he weaseled out of it. I had mental thoughts and images of some mind even tinier than his thinking they were the drug dealer to God for supplying him.
This isn’t just a pass time for writers. I was on a long drive listening to an NPR show on AM 580 WILL which was held in some bar/eatery where they were discussing the now infamous “Bad Hombres” line in the presidential debates. Since it was a college area crowd much of the conversation was about great names for rock bands which came out of the debate. I think they were up to 9 before I got out of range.
It’s rather amazing how something deemed completely inappropriate in one context can be considered perfect for another. As a writer you will have to deal with this time and time again. Some of you will write a book which will end up on a list of banned books such as “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury. I found the list of banned books that shaped America an interesting skim as well. Be honest, how many of them have you read? How many did you watch a movie about? I must admit I was quite shocked to learn “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” was on a banned books list.
So come on, share them. What are some of those awesome book titles you hope to one day write?
