Bibliography

To be a great writer, you must first be a great reader. Or, at the very least, be a mediocre reader of great writing. I don't know the first thing about producing or evaluating great writing so disregard everything I have to say on the matter. However, it would be appropriate for me to cite some of the books that I read while I was writing "Anal Sex Haiku, Lascivious Limericks & Other Drivel".

In the old days, limericks were created by drunkards in British pubs. They would get sloshed and, as the night wore on, they would regale each other with bits of obscene verse, often composed on the spot. This methodology proved unsuitable for me as a) I'm not British, b) I don't drink alcohol and c) I don't have any friends who write limericks. Instead, I tracked down every book of obscene limericks that I could find and used those as a foil for my limerickal pursuits.

Pablo Picasso once said, "Bad artists copy. Great artists steal." I make no claims to art or greatness, but I stole inspiration liberally and deliberately from the books below. As Isaac Newton might've said, these are the giants upon whose shoulders I've stood.

Without further ado, I present to you the bibliography for "Anal Sex Haiku, Lascivious Limericks & Other Drivel":

1. Anderson, C.V.J., "Forbidden Limericks".

Alas, I have to start on a negative note. This 12 page pamphlet of expurgated limericks isn't worth anyone's time but, since I read it, it deserves its place on this list.

2. Asimov, Isaac and John Ciardi, "Limericks".
3. Asimov, Isaac, "Asimov Laughs Again: More Than 700 Favorite Jokes, Limericks, and Anecdotes".
4. Asimov, Isaac, "Lecherous Limericks".
5. Asimov, Isaac, "More Lecherous Limericks".
6. Asimov, Isaac, "Still More Lecherous Limericks".

Only a fool would criticize a man who is more prolific, more successful, and probably more intelligent. In truth, it's not that I dislike Isaac Asimov's work, it's just that I'm not nearly so impressed with it as Asimov is. Or was. He's dead now. Actually, if you can divorce his limericks from his perpetual boasting about how witty, urbane and clever he is, they're pretty good. So are John Ciardi's.

7. Birch, Robert W., "Bawdy Ballads & Lecherous Limericks".
8. Birch, Robert W., "Improper Limericks: an Original Bawdy Collection".
9. Birch, Robert W., "Limericks for Lechers: Lascivious Lyrics, Rambling Ruminations & Titillating Trivia".
10. Birch, Robert W., "Still More Improper Limericks: Writings of a Limericks Addict".
11. Birch, Robert W., "There Was an Old Woman Named Hinkle: a Brazen Collection of Bawdy Limericks".

I have to give a shout out to Robert Birch. He was kind enough to review and edit 33 of my limericks when they were in a very rough state and his incisive comments helped me whip them into shape. He's also fine limerist in his own right. Many of his books are out of print, but you can still find used copies on Amazon and on his website, poetry-nut.com.

12. Blynd, Dr. Varius P., "Funktionary".

This massive tome is a cross between a dictionary and an encyclopedia. It covers a broad range of topics including funk, sex, humor, philosophy, finance, religion, politics, and life. Much of the philosophizing soared above my head, while a number of the conspiracy theories had me vigorously shaking it. Still, it's a fascinating book to thumb through and much of the wordplay is excellent.

13. Chaplin, Albin, "3024 Dirty Limericks".

While Chaplin isn't the most prolific limerick writer on this list, his book is certainly a wonder of fecundity. To natter about repetition or to complain about the diffusion of brilliance would be to miss the point. The man wrote over 3000 limericks and that's quite an accomplishment. What's even more incredible is that someone has surpassed him, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

14. Clapham, Marcus and Rosemary Gray, "A Thousand and One Limericks".

Though small in stature, this is a fine compilation of limericks. While I might recommend other compendiums ahead of this one -- Gershon Legman's books, for example -- this little book is unlikely to disappoint.

15. Crist, Clifford, "Big Little Book of Playboy Limericks".

The only bad thing I have to say about Playboy's book of limericks is that it doesn't include a centerfold. Otherwise, it's a stellar collection of original work.

16. Erdoes, Richard, "The Richard Erdoes Illustrated Treasury of Classic Unlaundered Limericks".

Alas, there's nothing exceptional about this collection of limericks. It's a compilation of other people's work and it's quantitatively unspectacular. However, the illustrations by Richard Erdoes are amusing and worth a glance.

17. Evans, Rod, "Sexicon".

This is an excellent reference work, providing obscure medical terminology for a wide variety of common and quite uncommon sex acts and preferences. You'll often find yourself saying, "I can't believe there's a name for that." Other times, you'll find yourself saying, "I can't believe there's a that."

18. Fey, (the late) Dr., "Limericks Naughty and Gay".

If you can get past the creepy feeling that some of the men in the drawings appear to be on the jailbait side of legal, this is a fine collection of limericks. While I try not to get overly PC while judging erotic poetry, this book provides a nice contrast to the overtly homophobic pieces found in some of the other books. It'll help you remain "fairy and balanced".

19. Forberg, Fred, "Manual of Classical Erotology".

A librarian friend passed along this book about the erotic writings of the ancient Greeks and Romans. I can't give it high marks, but it did inspire a couple limericks and haiku.

20. Gutmann, Max, "There Was a Young Girl from Verona".

Guttman wrote a book that summarizes each of the Bard's plays in a limerick. While Guttman's work is (largely) clean, and I'm a devotee of the dirty limerick, I have to give props to anyone who writes Shakespeare-oriented limericks.

21. Hart, Harold, "Limericks Lewd and Lusty".

Like many limerick books, this one appears to be a compilation of other people's work. There's nothing wrong with that, per se, but other compilers have done it better. Weighing in at under 200 limericks, with no illustrations, there isn't much to recommend this book.

22. Holland, Vyvyan, "An Explosion of Limericks".

The winner (or loser, depending on how you look at it) in the "Tough Act to Follow" category is Vyvyan Holland. While he's penned a decent book, one might have expected more from the son of Oscar Wilde. As it is, I rate it a half-hearted "so-so".

23. Knott, Blanche, "Truly Tasteless Jokes".

There's nary a limerick to be found, but I did reinterpret several of the jokes as limericks.

24. Kracht, Al, "Limericks New and Naughty".

Good limericks, good illustrations, what more could you ask for? Except more.

25. Lederer, Richard, "The Cunning Linguist".

Although there's a paucity of limericks in this book, it is a fine collection of sexual humor expressed via clever wordplay.

26. Legman, Gershon, "More Limericks".
27. Legman, Gershon, "Rationale of the Dirty Joke: an Analysis of Sexual Humor, First Series".
28. Legman, Gershon, "Rationale of the Dirty Joke: an Analysis of Sexual Humor, Second Series".
29. Legman, Gershon, "The Limerick".

Gershon Legman edited two amazing compilations of limericks. Between the two of them, there are over 4000 limericks from a wide variety of authors, spanning numerous decades. To those with a nascent interest in limericks, I cannot recommend these two books highly enough.

His books on dirty jokes, on the other hand, are probably best avoided. While I salute his efforts to compile an exhaustive collection of obscene humor, these two tomes are weighted down by his ponderous prose, Freudian psychobabble and judgmental moralizing. I can't deny that I pulled several jokes from these books, but getting through them was torturous.

30. Partridge, Eric, "Shakespeare's Bawdy".

In all honesty, I didn't read this book. However, I did thumb through it and copied a list of Shakespearean euphemisms for male and female sexual organs. In general, based on my brief perusal, I found Frankie Rubinstein's book to be more comprehensive and more interesting. On the other hand, Rubinstein builds on Partridge's work and it's probably not fair to fault a pioneer for not being as exhaustive as his progeny.

31. Peterkin, A.D., "The Bald-headed Hermit & the Artichoke".

This erotic thesaurus was essential ordnance in my arsenal of reference works. Granted, there's a superabundance of "cock" and "dick" in my book, but it was nice to have 1400 other options.

32. Rubinstein, Frankie, "A Dictionary of Shakespeare's Sexual Puns and Their Significance".

Shakespeare and sex, what's not to like? This dictionary goes through every word that Shakespeare used in sexual wordplay, describes its usage, and backs up those claims with quotations from all of the plays where it appears. This is an excellent companion piece to the Shakespeare canon and, while it doesn't make me sympathetic, it does make Dr. Bowdler seem rational. Those plays are filthy!

33. Slim, John, "Fred First".
34. Slim, John, "Multiple Buttocks".
35. Slim, John, "Rather Rottener".
36. Slim, John, "Saucy Shorts".

In addition to these four volumes of racy verse, that contain about 1000 limericks apiece, Mr. Slim has two further volumes of clean verse. All in all, he claims to have written over 7000 limericks. If Guinness kept track of such things, and they don't, I believe he would be the world record holder as the most prolific limerick writer. As an American, one of the most interesting aspects of these books was seeing which words rhyme to a Brit.

37. Stanza, Ronald, "1001 Lewdest Limericks".

This book appears to be nothing more than pointless rehash of Legman's first limerick book. And not in the way that my book is pointless rehash of Legman's work, this is out and out plagiarism. At least to the extent you can call copying a work that was itself a compilation of other people's work, plagiarism. Go straight to the source and skip this one.

38. OEDILF - The Omnificent English Dictionary In Limerick Form

I don't know who came up with the idea of creating a dictionary where all of the definitions would be in limerick form, but they had a flash of brilliance. There are currently almost 46,000 limerick definitions covering the words from "aa-" to "co-". It may take a decade or more before they finish, but it'll be worth the wait. (Hint: be sure to turn the content filter off in order to get to the "good stuff".)

Salivo ergo sum,
D.I. Prime
November 10, 2007