The Humor of Author Aptronyms

 

 

Collected by Gwen Foss, Alan's Used Books

 

The word “aptronym” was coined by columnist Franklin Pierce Adams (1881–1960) to denote a person whose name matched their profession or character.

 

Here in the world of books I sometimes find authors whose names are aptly suitable to their book titles. Since I handle mostly nonfiction most of the ones I find are from history and science books. The following is just a smattering from my collection. (Yes, these are real books and authors!)

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• Visionary Cities, by Wall

 

• Everybody Eats Well in Belgium Cookbook, illustrated by Sweet

 

• The Naked Detective: A Novel, by Shames

 

• The Spiral Ascent: A Trilogy of Novels, by Upward

 

• Legal Directory for Lawyers, Merchants and All Business Men (several editions from 1880s to 1910s), by Graft

 

• Numerical Analysis, by Burden

 

• Our Corrupt Congress, by Hoar

 

• Race Horses at Risk: Overnutrition, Drugs, Breakdowns, by Krook

 

• Criminal Life: Forty-two Years as a Police Officer, by Bent

 

• Treatise on Madness, by Battie (1758)

 

• Credit River Valley, co-authored by Hudson

 

• Surviving Hitler And Mussolini, by Warring

 

• At the Crossroads: Michilimackinac During the American Revolution (wartime history of a northern Michigan fort), by Armour

 

• Why Men Rebel, by Gurr

 

• Jet Bombers, by Gunston

 

• History of the Electrochemical Society, by Burns

 

• Silken Threads, by Stitch

 

• 849 Traditional Patchwork Patterns, by Mills

 

• A Pictorial Guide to American Spinning Wheels, co-authored by Taylor

 

• Bad Hair, co-authored by Webb

 

• Mummies, Disease, and Ancient Cultures, by Cockburn

 

• The Standard Manual of Soda and Other Beverages, by Hiss

 

• Thermodynamics: An Introduction, co-authored by Wood

 

• Glacial and Quaternary Geology, by Flint

 

• History of Experimental Psychology, by Boring

 

• Marketing Concepts and Strategies, co-authored by Pride

 

• Chicago and Northwestern-Milwaukee Road Pictorial (a railroad history), by Porter

 

• Automotive Antifreezes, co-authored by Streets

 

• Sixteenth Biennial Report of the Michigan State Highway Commissioner, 1936, edited by Van Wagoner

 

• Christmas Traditions, by Auld

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To finish up, I present a few books authored by individuals with utterly inappropriate names. Such poorly matched monikers could be called inaptronyms, malronyms, malaptronyms, antinyms, or even anti-aptronyms.

 

• Desert War in North Africa, consultant: Maj. Gen. I. S. O. Playfair

 

• The Flood of 1993, by Burnett

 

• Introduction to Computer Science, by Gear

 

• Teaching with Charisma, by Duck

 

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