The Philosopher Fish: Sturgeon, Caviar, and the Geography of Desire by Richard Adams Carey narrowly won the 2024 Bookseller/Diagram Prize for the Oddest Book Title of the Year with 27% of the public vote, just ahead of How to Dungeon Master Parenting (24%) and Speculum: Examining the Women's Health Movement (22%).
This was the closest Diagram race since the selection process for the 46-year-old prize went to an online public vote 25 years ago, the Bookseller reported, adding that "there will no doubt be some controversy this year," since the book was first released in 2005, "but the new 2024 edition has enough fresh material that judges (well, your ol' pal Horace after those Courvoisiers) deemed it suitable for inclusion."
There is no award for the winning author or publisher (Brandeis University Press), "barring a Taylor Swift level of fame and a Richard Osman-like spike in book sales. Traditionally, a passable bottle is bestowed on the nominator of the winning title. But for the second year in a row, the champ was put forward by a Bookseller staff member. So the claret goes back into the cellar and next year we shall give three bottles," the Bookseller added.