The post below talks about Rod Dreher's lengthy-titled book, Crunchy Cons... When I learned of it, I immediately thought of a book on my shelf with another long title -- or in this case, subtitle. It's James V. Schall's Another Sort
of Learning. First published in 1988, I was surprised to
discover that it is still in print. I guess quirkiness gives a book
staying power. At least sometimes. Anyway, it's subtitle reads as follows: "Selected
Contrary Essays on How Finally to Acquire an Education While Still in College
or Anywhere Else: Containing Some Belated Advice about How to Employ Your
Leisure Time When Ultimate Questions Remain Perpelexing in Spite of Your
Highest Earned Academic Degree, Together with Sundry Book Lists Nowhere Else in
Captivity to be Found."
It's a wonderful book, as the title leads one to expect. Especially helpful are the suggested readings at the end of each chapter. Schall mentions that he has in his possession a 1931 Oxford University reprint of the 1794 edition of Boswell's Life of Johnson. This particular edition bears the title: The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D., Comprehending an Account of His Studies and Numerous Works, in Chronological Order; a Series of Epistolary Correspondence and Conversations with many Eminent Persons; and Various Original Pieces of His Compositions, Never Before Published; the Whole Exhibitng a View of Literature and LIterary Men in Great Britain, for Near Half a Century, During Which He Flourished, by James Boswell, Esq."
As Schall rightly says, "They do not make titles like that any more." Except in the case of his book and Rod Dreher's.