I'll have a new book coming out before long with Cascade. It's a collection of short pieces: blog posts, pieces written for magazines and such, as well as a good deal of new material (including pieces on friendship, suicide, law, music, theology as comedy and tragedy, etc). So it's a collection of theological vignettes and improvisations, all of them exploring the intersection of theology and culture.But there's a problem: some people are good at thinking of sexy book titles; I'm not one of those people. So can you help me come up with a catchy title? All I've got so far is a subtitle, Improvisations in Theology and Culture – I quite like this, though I'm happy to change it as well if you have a better idea.
Please leave your suggestions in the comments – the winning title will be immortalised on the cover of the book. And as a token of thanks, I'll also send you a copy of the book, plus a $20 Amazon voucher (so that you can buy something better to read).
Thanks for your help!
You're a Dylan fan, right? You might do a tangential reference to something of his.
ReplyDeleteTake care & God bless
WF
So long as you don't title it "Theology: FAIL!" it'll probably be ok. ;)
Ben, you turned me on to Kevin Hart, and from memory we are both fans of "The Last Day." There are some great theological turns of phrase in that poem to draw from, especially as they might relate to "improvisations." For example:
ReplyDeleteRewritten Stories
Each From the End
Time to Say the Right Things At Last
Flowering Into Flames
Stories Rewritten Each From the End
Okay, really this was just an excuse to re-read that poem. Blessings on the book publication!
You might be making the same mistake as Kraft here. Just call it CheesyMite and get on with it.
ReplyDeleteREAL FOR RANDOM: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
ReplyDeletePOP CREDOS.. & GUTTER HYMNS
Uh..
HYMNPROVISING?? HOW TO HYMNPROVISE?
Okay I'll stop now
-kevshaw
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ReplyDeleteYour title will sexily state improvisations of the intersection of theology and culture.
ReplyDeleteBrainstorming here. I see "Twist" like Moses serpent on a stick (an overused image; I'm only brainstorming.)
Or crash bang hit (objects hit each other at an intersection.)
I will think more. I like your word Intersection but it's not quite right for a title.
Possible Titles:
ReplyDelete* Blogology
* On the Fly
* Living Improvisations
* Dogma Alive
* Living Dogma
Possible Subtitles:
: Intersecting Theology and Culture
: Sketches of How Theology Intersects With Culture
: The Mixing of Culture and Theology
Ben, if you are keen to follow the music allusion in your subtitle:
ReplyDeleteUn/easy Modulations
Contrapuntus
Momente
Reverie
Dissonance(s)
How about "Talk on Corners: Improvisations in Theology and Culture"
ReplyDeleteOnce more, from the top: subtitle
ReplyDeleteDown There by the Train
ReplyDelete(or some other Tom Waits allusion)
How about:
ReplyDeleteShooting Dogmatics from the Hip: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
Talking God at Star Bucks: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
Gossipping about God: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
Meeting God in Unexpected Places: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
Theoture 1 : Improvisations in Theology and Culture
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you will be having a series.
BTW I remember somewhere in your "Theology for beginners" series that you said you would try and flesh out the series into a book. Any chance of that happening sometime. That series was what hooked me into theology.
Hey Plessey — you've no idea how delighted I am to hear that the "theology for beginners" series was so useful! After I finished the series, I was planning to publish it, and I did a lot of work revising/expanding the material for a book. But the more I worked over it, the more I was dissatisfied with the whole approach — so I decided just to scrap it. But at some point I'd still love to start again from scratch with a (different) "theology for beginners" book. Maybe I should do it as another blog series some time?
ReplyDeleteCouldn't resist punning with your name, mate:
ReplyDeleteBen There
Benchmarks
Or:
Laptop Theology
Microtheology
Texting, Texting
This, That, and the Wholly Other
Musing My Religion
Email to the Romans
Blah, Blah, Blah
Do you want me to go on? ;)
1. Mumbling Words (pace Welcome Wagon)
ReplyDelete2. Faith and Theology
Musical titles:
ReplyDeleteFigured Bass
Continuo
or
Extemporaneous Ineloquence
Ejaculations
No giggling at the last one.
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ReplyDeletehow about:
ReplyDelete'After the Last Post'
or
'Past the Last Post'
Love Supreme.
ReplyDeleteOn Being - A type of theology
ReplyDeleteNothing better to read.
But I rather warmed to the 'Past the Last Post' of remylow and kim's 'Benchmarks' and 'Laptop Theology'
I think your subtitle is great! I'm working on a PhD in theatrical improvisation and theology, so here are a few title ideas hinting at the intersection of improvisation, culture and theology:
ReplyDeleteTimely Truth: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
Transpositions: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
Creative Fidelity: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
Re-Novation: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
With that subtitle you have to have a jazz reference in the title. How about "Sketches of Heaven"
ReplyDelete"Half-Cocked"
ReplyDeleteDylan-inspired suggestions:
ReplyDeleteI Once Loved a Woman, A Child I Am Told: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
My Love She Speaks Like Silence: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
The Night Blows Cold and Rainy: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
All the Gifts that Wise Men Bring: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
My own suggestions:
Hobo Psalms: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
The Blue Strings Wavered: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
The Dancer or the Dance: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
Night is Over Mountains: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
Losing My Religion: Improvisations in Theology and Culture (Okay, so that was REM...)
A Blind Man Saw the Truth One Day: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
Paper Wings, Electric Ice: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
Angels With Electric Wings: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
The Words Took Fire and Fled: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
How about:
ReplyDelete"No Adiaphora"
or
"Secular Parables"
or
"Theoluminescence"
Learning the Secret Handshake: an Insider's Guide to Success in the Theo-Bureaucracy
ReplyDeleteEssays from Beneath the Pew: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
ReplyDeleteBetween Faith and Theology: Improvising on God and Culture
"Improvisations" is a clunky word, Ben. Give it some action. And I think the main title should play off your well known "brand," which is your blog.
From a fellow Tom Waits admirer:
ReplyDeleteBetween Glitter and Doom: Conversations in Theology and Culture
Bending the Knee: Improvisations in Theology & Culture.
ReplyDeleteEpistles to the Ether: Improvisations... etc
Drawings in the Dust: Improvisations... (an allusion to that curious aside in John 8.6)
"Well, We have come this far"
ReplyDelete(publishing blog posts! Come on!)
I'd go with:
ReplyDeleteBringing It All Back Home:
Improvisations in Theology and Culture
let intertextualities abound:)
Capitulating to the Frontier: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
ReplyDeleteJee-zuss is my Aeroplane: Preachin' the Gospel for Fun and for Profit
ReplyDeleteThe General Dance: Improvisations in Theology & Culture. Problem is Merton already used the first bit.
ReplyDeleteWhat of using a title or line from an essay?
If you want to sell a ton of books, the answer is easy: the title should be "Oprah's Book Club Recommends: Improvisations in Theology and Culture."
ReplyDeleteIf you think the riches would prove too much a temptation, however, I would second Christopher's nomination of "Secular Parables: Improvisations in Theology and Culture."
Ben,
ReplyDeleteI know George MacDonald used this book title but it seems apropos:
A Dish of Orts: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
Stephen
Syncopated Time: Shifts in Theology and Culture
ReplyDeleteor
Syncopated Times: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
In jazz, accents fall between the beats - which leads to an element of surprise - this shift in accent, when a normally weak note becomes the stressed note works as a wonderful metaphor the types of essays you write engaging shifts and surprises in theology and culture.
Theological Jazz : Improvisations on Theology and Culture
ReplyDelete"God is a place where some holy spectacle lies": Improvisations in Theology and Culture by Ben Myers
ReplyDeleteAvant-garde: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
ReplyDeleteOops, forgot to sign in for that last comment.
ReplyDeleteIf you're wanting to be cute you could try:
Avant-God: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
Acknowledgement
ReplyDeleteHow about:
ReplyDeleteImprovisational Fragments: Exploring the Interstices of Theology and Culture
Intersections
ReplyDelete"Good Enough for Jazz: Improvised Theology for Amateur Theologians"
ReplyDelete;-)
Surprised by Christ: Improvisations on Theology and Culture
ReplyDeleteTheir Eyes Were Watching Blog
ReplyDeleteShameless Plug: I did a post on fictional book titles a while ago.
@thinkingblueguitars
ReplyDeleteSorry but "Losing my Religion" has already been snatched from REM by Tom Frame's work on Unbelief in Australia.
Hi Ben, am relatively new to your blog. If you want a sexy book title, you'll need a woman's touch. And I think something like -
ReplyDelete"A groping in the dark - my bastardised offerings on theology and culture"
or
"Moments of ecstasy - theology and culture between the sheets"
These should also appeal to the Australian sense of humour. "improvisations" is overdone. It would be better to use something else.
"On a wing and a prayer - fragments on theology and culture"
I suppose it depends on your targeted audience. But if you want something on the intersection between theology and culture, don't take yourself to seriously on the front cover! Have some fun with it, because you will be hard pressed to sell theology to anyone.
Navigating the Stars of Leo with a Lamb: improvisations on theology and culture
ReplyDeleteMy Friends are Legion: improvisations on theology and culture offline
ReplyDeleteLoopaper: theological reflections on culture you can recycle
ReplyDeletejust kidding about the last one... you do know I'm one of your biggest fans?
ReplyDeleteWow - some of those suggestions are interesting...
ReplyDeleteI like your subtitle.
Ps: Mat Rogers' autobiography was titled "on a wing and a prayer".. that's the cronulla player.
ReplyDeleteHey Ben,
ReplyDeleteMy suggestion is 'Post It Notes: Improvisations on Theology & Culture'
Mike E
(The) Spirit in Cyberspace: Improvisations in Theology and Culture (in the Digital Dimension)- though your readership might expand to include New Age spirit questers...
ReplyDeleteI like 'Dogmatics in Binary', but it sounds too much like an egregious Theology:FAIL.
A Digital Interlude: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
Christ's Technological Incompetency: Jewish Blogging in the First Century (there has to be a book in that, even if it's not this one...)
> Amongst the Egyptians: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
ReplyDelete> Mediated Spontaneity: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
I don't know the general flavor of the pieces, but this could work if they've got any attitude:
> The Spontaneous Contrarian: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
> A Pendulum in a Pantheon: Improvisations in Theology and Culture (maybe too overblown a reference to Foucault's pendulum, except this is a different 'pendulum' observing the movement of culture - 'pantheon' should be self-evident)
Comming from a marketing perspective, I think you should change it a bit. I like something with the "intersection" label. If the title is too complex you risk scaring the laity away.
ReplyDeleteI like Mike E's idea with post it notes but I'd just go with "Post It: Improvisations on Theology & Culture" or "Post-its: Improvisations on Theology & Culture".
ReplyDeleteMy Dylan suggestion is
"Visions of Theology that Conquer my Mind: Improvisations on Theology & Culture"
My 3rd suggestion is
"Florelegium: Improvisations on Theology & Culture"
(although, in this case, 'improvisations' would perhaps be redundant considering the meaning of 'florelegium' (a term I am consistently fascinated with)).
Free Form: Improvisations on Theology and Culture
ReplyDeleteAsh to Ash, Dust to Dust: Improvisations...
Modern Litiany:...
Spiritual Flotsam and Jetsam:...
Other than that, I got nothin'.
On the Stage of the Everyday: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
ReplyDeleteUnnecessary publication #9045689
ReplyDeleteor
Find This All Online @ _____
or
CV Line +1
jk!!!
how about something like... a picture of someone texting at a busy intersection; a crossing, cinema, restaurants... The title is 'Texts at the Intersection'
ReplyDeleteDivine Diversions: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
ReplyDeleteDivine Comedy: Having Culture and Theology to Tea
Shrimp and Chocolate: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
God's Laboratory: Mixing Culture and Theology
I like the last one best. It does need to be somewhat unexpected.
Ann
Not that I have any great hopes, but at least I think this particular pun is still unclaimed...
ReplyDeleteA Book of Bits: (picking up the computer angle)
or better
Bits and Pieces:
If you were a Beatles fan you could always go with The White Album, given the current cover design.
Hearing Harmony Within the Dissonance: Reflections on Theology and Culture.
ReplyDelete21st Century Pensees
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMISC.
ReplyDeleteMiscellaneous Reflections on Faith and Culture.
A book's title should represent a book's contents.
'In God's Blender'
ReplyDeleteThe challenging mix of theology and culture.
Eclectic Stew: A Little Bit of Everything
ReplyDeleteGod in the Pot: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
ReplyDeleteWalking the World: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
The Pilgrim Life: Improvisations in Theology and Culture
A bit late/too late for this party? But I think: "Blown to Pieces" is what I would go for - affirming both the pneumatological and fragmentary. You could bolt on any of the sub-headings already talked about if you like.
ReplyDeleteDo I get a free copy? :)
Enjoyed reading recent stuff on the preamble - especially as I'm doing so from the perspective of a School of Theology and Religious Studies in Africa.
Many of the suggested titles just play around with musical allusions. That is not a good way to title a book. The best title I have seen is "Theological Jazz" with the author's subtitle. But I agree with the comment that a book's title should reflect it's content. Moreover, good titles often "carry" the thesis or the golden thread that pulls the pieces of the book together. If the author thinks 'improvisations' is that theme (what would the opposite of improvisation be?), then that should be in the main title, not the subtitle. Is the theme of improvisation influenced by Sam Wells' use of the term? If so, that is a theatrical reference more than a musical one, and carries the notion of performance, that theology is something that is not simply thought, but performed in everyday life. Thus a title like 'Theology in the Practice of Everyday Life.'
ReplyDelete