Dr. Johnson and the Social History of Sputum

There's a bit in the Waste Books where Lichtenberg mentions a poem, or possibly novel, whose title had obviously been composed before the work itself.  I assume that Seven Deadly Wonders is such a book.

Not necessarily of the same type, but nevertheless annoying:

• Borges and the Eternal Orangutans
• Lichtenberg and the Little Flower Girl
• Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

All by different authors.  The Education of Arnold Hitler and Insect Dreams: the Half Life of Gregor Samsa escape by virtue of their form.  These, though, by the same author(s), are also annoyingly titled:

• Wittgenstein's Poker: the Story of a Ten-Minute Argument Between Two Great Philosophers
• Rousseau's Dog: Two Great Thinkers at War in the Age of Enlightenment

Needless to say, I haven't read them (except the Lichtenberg one, natch), preferring to check my facts after posting nonsense to Usenet.  I am reminded of an article long ago, possibly in the New Yorker, about a young director who made a student film about some basketball players and then tried to market a longer movie also about basketball, inspiring questions about whether he could actually make a movie about a different topic.  Also, Gregory Maguire.

Comments

[Jacob Haller]

What do you think of the old science fiction magazine practice of buying a cover illustration from an artist, then hiring a writer to write a story to fit the illustration?

[ben wolfson]

Nothing but approval.

[Standpipe Bridgeplate]

All five of my novels center on Pyrex® brand custard cups.

[ac]

My favorite was Pyrex® and the Pill-Popping Centaur

[Armsmasher]

Both of those novels by Estrin are good.

[Armsmasher]

I must say that The Education of Arnold Hitler was personally satisfying because its fictional villain served as editor in chief for a college paper that, in fact, my roommate edited in chief. Other parts of the novel crib too liberally from the sources he cites, which I found disappointing.