Now All We Need is a Title: Famous Book Titles and How They Got That Way Andre Bernard
Who can forget those immortal novels "First Impressions", "The Kingdom by the Sea", "Trimalchio in West Egg", "My Valley", "Pansy", "The Second Murderer", "Tom-All-Alone's the Ruined House"...? Would "The Ancient Mariner" have been so successful if it had been called "The Old Sailor"? Andre Bernard has researched the stories behind more than a hundred of the most famous titles in the English language to produce a fascinating volume rich in anecdote and publishing lore. (Joseph Heller's first novel was titled "Catch-18" until the publishers of Leon Uris's "Mila-18" protested and so "Catch-22" entered our language. William L. Shirer's (ex) editor pleaded "Please God, don't ask us to publish a book called "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich""). From "Vanity Fair" to "Under Milk Wood", "Now All We Need is a Title" is a wonderful romp among the literary monuments.