Gender Neutral

Reading from Behind: A Cultural Analysis of the Anus barely hit bookstores in the United Kingdom this spring when it received its first accolade. The custodians of the 38th annual Diagram Prize added this academic exploration of the socially neglected but culturally pervasive human anus to their shortlist of the oddest book titles of the year. Jonathan A. Allan, a professor and Canada Research Chair in Queer Theory at Brandon University in Manitoba, found his book sharing such dubious honour alongside Soviet Bus Stops, a photography book, and the self-explanatory Behind the Binoculars: Interviews with Acclaimed Birdwatchers. The winner, if you must know, is decided by a public vote. And if you really, really must know, the prize went to Too Naked for Nazis with Reading from Behind a close second.

I mention the Diagram Prize not to undermine this rigorous and frequently brilliant book, but to show the pitfalls of mixing...