I was in a coffee shop recently. There were books along the walls. This is an interesting phenomenon, in and of itself (seems as those inclined to read at a coffee shop would bring a book of their choosing). Two book pairings stood out to me. Part of me is certain that these books were not placed next to one another accidentally. Check them out:
Gay American History next to a book by Rush Limbaugh. Can that really be accidental? Someone with too much time in a coffee shop has a sense of humor.
The Science of Mind next to Completely Queer. Maybe not as blatant as the previous one, but still an artful pairing.
These pairings made me think how funny it would be to try and organize an entire shelf of books (or more) into ironic, humorous, or subliminal pairings. Of course, I would never scrap my alphabetical ordering for this, because I would be bugged to no end, but it has at least planted the seed of perhaps finding more fun book pairings when I am out in the world.
Hilarious! I’d love to see more of these guerilla match-ups.
I’m going to be on the lookout from now on!
Sometimes when I’m at bookstores I imagine that a book from one section is really a book from another section—i.e., that a politics title is really a sexual health title, etc.
Beginning the Quest
The Cambridge Companion to Leo Strauss
Governance Theory and Practice
The Laughing Lion and the Strutting Fox
Patriotic Elaborations
Leviathan
The Political Philosophy of Michel Foucault
…It’s meager, I know, but this is how I amuse myself.
i always have a hard time not seeing the sexual innuendos in book titles.