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2010 in Review: Long Subtitles

Antonio Gonzalez Cerna
Features
2 min read
Antonio Gonzalez Cerna

Longest Book Titles of 2010?

At 290 words and 1,433 characters, the longest book title in the world belongs to an Italian tome published in 2007. Still, we couldn’t help notice the growing length of titles this year. Memoir and biography are perhaps the guiltiest categories. What is the longest title of 2010? (At least among the LGBT-relevant category?) We created a list of all the titles that came across our desk over the past year to crown the longest of them all. Drum roll please…

 10th Runner up
81 Characters. 12 Words.

THE BUCOLIC PLAGUE:
How Two Manhattanites Became Gentlemen Farmers: An Unconventional Memoir

By Josh Kilmer-Purcell
Harper ( June 2010)

9th Runner up
81 Characters. 17 Words.

PARTY ANIMALS:
A Hollywood Tale of Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘n’ Roll Starring the Fabulous Allan Carr

By Robert Hofler
Da Capo Press (March 2010)

8th Runner Up
83 Characters. 14 Words.

PLEASE SELECT YOUR GENDER:
From the Invention of Hysteria to the Democratizing of Transgenderism

By Patricia Gherovici
Routledge (January 2010)

7th Runner up
86 Characters. 14 Words.

SAWDUST CONFESSIONS:
The Pleasures are Guilty as a Diva Disappears from Florida’s Gayest Campground

By William A. Sievert
Illustrated by Diana Lucas
Createspace (February 2010)

6th Runner up
87 Characters. 17 Words.

SECRET HISTORIAN:
The Life and Times of Samuel Steward, Professor, Tattoo Artist, and Sexual Renegade

By Justin Spring
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (August 2010)

1416592822
 5th Runner up
89 Characters. 19 Words.

I WAS BORN THIS WAY:
A Gay Preacher’s Journey through Gospel Music, Disco Stardom, and a Ministry in Christ

By Carl Bean and David Ritz
Simon & Schuster (June 2010)

4th Runner up
91 Characters. 15 Words

LIFE, LEATHER AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS:
Life, History and Culture in the Leather/BDSM/Fetish Community

By Steve Lenius
Nelson Borhek Press (May 2010)

3rd Runner up
94 Characters. 14 Words.

QUEERING THE PUBLIC SPHERE IN MEXICO AND BRAZIL:
Sexual Rights Movements in Emerging Democracies

By Rafael de la Dehesa and Rafael de la Dehesa
Duke University Press (April 2010)

Straight from Your Gay Best Friend The Straight-Up Truth About Relationships, Work, and Having a Fabulous Life
 2nd Runner up
95 Characters. 17 Words.

STRAIGHT FROM YOUR GAY BEST FRIEND:
The Straight-Up Truth about Relationships, Work, and Having a Fabulous Life

By Terrance Dean
Agate Bolden (October 2010)

1st Place Winner

277 Characters. 34 Words

KISSING THE MASK:
Beauty, Understatement and Femininity in Japanese Noh Theater With Some Thoughts on Muses (especially Helga Testorf), Transgender Women, Kabuki Goddesses, Porn Queens, Poets, Housewives, Makeup Artists, Geishas, Valkyries and Venus Figurines

By William T. Vollmann
Ecco (April 2010)

Honorable Mentions

  • 74 Characters. 15 Words.
  • FROM THE CLOSET TO THE COURTROOM: Five LGBT Rights Lawsuits That Have Changed Our Nation by Carlos A. Ball; Michael Bronski
 (Beacon Press)
  • 73 Characters. 14 Words.
  • UNLIKELY ALLIES: How a Merchant, a Playwright, and a Spy Saved the American Revolution by Joel Richard Paul
 (Riverhead)
  • 70 Characters. 16 Words.
  • PALM TREES ON THE HUDSON: A True Story of the Mob, Judy Garland & Interior Decorating by Elliot Tiber (Square One Publishers)
  • 67 Characters. 12 Words.
  • WHERE’S MY WAND?: One Boy’s Magical Triumph over Alienation and Shag Carpeting by Eric Poole 
(Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam)