Judging A Book By Its Statistically Improbable Phrases

Trying to find the URL for a blog a friend of mine just started, and which she calls "The Story Girl," (I eventually did find it; it's here) I ran across a mention of the novel of the same name by L.M. Montgomery of Anne of Green Gables fame. Curious about the book, I popped over to Amazon, where I noticed something I'd never seen before. Along with other book information, there was a list of "Statistically Improbable Phrases" (SIP) found within the book. Now that's what I call good times! (Yep, nearly 100% nerd.)

Here is the list of SIP for "The Story Girl": "cherry vase, timothy roots, bad berries, proud princess, blue chest, magic seed, awkward man, hired boy, bitter apples, spruce wood, magic lantern show, liver pills, family ghost."

With a list like that, imagine the possibilities of this service for blog names, band names, poem titles, short story subjects....etc. etc. etc.!

You can also click on any one of these phrases to see where they appear in other books. (Book bunny trails!) "Magic lantern show" appears in a book titled "Wonder Shows: Performing Science, Magic, And Religion In America," by Fred Nadis; "blue chest" is also referenced in "Blue's Checkup" by Sarah Albee - a book about the dog from the children's television show "Blue's Clues," and "cherry vase" appears in a book called "Spindle Turning" by Fine Woodworking Editors.

It proved a bit difficult to find other listings that included the SIP. (Looks like SIPs are only available for those books that include the "Search Inside" icon in their listing, which makes sense. But a "search inside" notation did not necessarily mean SIP had been noted.) I did find a few, though. For Don Delillo's "White Noise": "airborne toxic event, stadium steps, radiator cover, toxic cloud, feathery plume." For Michael Chabon's "Kavalier and Clay: "comic book business, luna moth, blue tuxedo, secret circle, magic shop." And for a book titled "Perspectives On Richard Ford" by Huey Guagliardo: "southern novel, marginal people and ultimate good luck."

Forget about judging books by their covers, I'm going to start judging them by their statistically improbable phrases. And with its "family ghost," "awkward man," and "timothy roots," "The Story Girl" by L.M. Montgomery is now on my to-read list.