Better Book Titles
About
Better Book Titles is a single-topic blog that renames well-known books ranging from classic literature to current publications with alternative titles critiquing the plot.
Origin
Better Book Titles[1] was created by New York-based writer/comedian Dan Wilbur.[2] According to Wilbur's own description, the blog was created in order to provide succinct summaries of the book plots that “will cut through all the cryptic crap, and give you the meat of the story in one condensed image.”[1] The first post was made on July 1st, 2010[3], renaming Caleb Carr's The Alienist[15] "Teddy Roosevelt Solves Tranny Murders."
Spread
A month after its inception, internet culture site Urlesque[4] as well as mainstream media outlets like the Chicago Tribune[5], Entertainment Weekly[6], Glamour Magazine[7] and the New Yorker[8] featured the blog. Over the rest of 2010, Better Book Titles was covered by Paste Magazine[9], the Boston Globe[10] and the Tosh.0 blog.[11]
In April 2011, highlights from the blog were featured on Buzzfeed.[12] That month, it was also named TIME NewsFeed's Tumblr of the Week[13], who declared it their "favorite Tumblr of the Week of all time." In May 2011, NPR[14] featured the blog on their site, encouraging readers to submit titles to Wilbur's blog.
Notable Examples
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Search Interest
Search began in August 2010, when the blog started seeing media attention, but peaked in May 2011 after being detailed on TIME and NPR.
External References
[3] Better Book Titles – The Alienist
[4] Urlesque – Better Book Titles Does Away With – Blech! – Reading
[5] Chicago Tribune – Lit links: Franzen is on Time, Dostoevsky is a bummer and book titles can be too misleading
[6] Entertainment Weekly – Better Book Titles: The blog that tells you what the books are really about
[7] Glamour – Classic Books Get a Funny Makeover
[8] The New Yorker – A Book By Any Other Name
[9] Paste – Our Favorite Better Book Titles
[10] Boston Globe – Better Book Titles
[11] Tosh.0 Blog – Renaming Christmas Classics
[12] Buzzfeed – The Best of Better Book Titles
[13] TIME NewsFeed – Tumblr of the Week: Better Book Titles
[14] NPR – 'Better Book Titles': Don't Judge A Book By Its Existing Cover
[15] Wikipedia – The Alienist
[17] Wikipedia – The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
[18] Wikipedia – Decision Points
[19] Wikipedia – The Little Prince
[20] Wikipedia – The Devil Wears Prada
[21] Wikipedia – The Game Of Thrones
Recent Videos
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Top Comments
ConstantiNe
Dec 29, 2011 at 12:04AM EST
PYRO
Jan 03, 2012 at 05:50PM EST