I’ve got this book off at my publisher, and we’re still arguing over the title. Everything else looks good, but we can’t agree on this one rather big thing: my editor definitely wants it to be something personal and about me, of all people. So I have an exercise for everyone. Imagine an infidel like me with a book that skewers religion and triumphantly praises the godless way of life. Imagine the cover. There, in big bold print it says…
The __________ Atheist
Fill in the blank. Remember, it’s got to be provocative but positive, catchy and descriptive. I know you’re all thinking “Poopyhead”, but I’m gonna squelch that one right now. No scatology or obscenity, ’cause while it would be fine to be banned for the content, it’s so petty and superficial to be banned for the cover. It should be something that makes you want to reach out and buy it, too.
Oh, and no, you don’t get a cut for suggesting one adjective.
Way too late to this party, but (apologies if these have been said already) here are my votes:
I’d leave in the blank. Let it be an exercise for the reader.
If you need an adjective, I’d pick ‘Functional’ or ‘Practical’. There are good precedents for those terms. So there’s my vote.
*off to read the thread*
Naked Came the Atheist
The Best Little Atheist In Minnesota
Green Arks and Ham
I Can’t Believe It’s an Atheist!
If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Atheism
No God, Please, We’re British
PZ
I hope you give your publisher a link to this thread.
Then you can name The Book whatever you actually want to name it.
The passionate atheist.
Therrin @202
me @206
8 minutes.
you win.
To quote Justin Timberlake from The Social Network:
Drop the “The”… it’s cleaner.
The title should be:
ATHEIST.
>>Fill in the blank. Remember, it’s got to be provocative
Whatever you say…
The Provocative Atheist
As a follow up, I think the cover would look awesome if all it said was
PZ MYERS
ATHEIST.
It almost comes across like a confession of sorts.
Bold. Concise. Declarative.
I win.
How about ‘Unhatted’
“The Unhatted Atheist”
…referring to the Planet of the Hats post from a while ago.
Has ‘The Bad-Ass Atheist’ been suggested yet?
Or should that be ‘Assed’?
The Inquiring Atheist
An addendum to explain why I suggested the title “The Terrible, Horrible, No-good Very Bad Atheist”:
It may be too US-centric and too targeted to kids who grew up in the 70s, like me. A favorite children’s book from that era is called Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day. It’s a catalogue of complaints any kid can relate to and relish complaining about:
I like how the title addresses all the stupid and incessant criticisms of outspoken atheists like PZ. “Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad” is exactly the shit Chris Mooney and his ilk have been shoveling for years. I think it would be fun to own it and lampoon it.
the Awesome Atheist
The Combative Atheist
The Fervent Atheist
and for laughs, The Well Endowed Atheist
Obviously getting a cut would be ridiculous, but giving an ARC to the person with the winning submission would be cool.
The Athiest Atheist Who Ever Did Athe
All of my favourites were already suggested by others within the first 40 comments. Clearly I am terribly unoriginal (either that or I have my finger of the pulse of the zeitgeist or whatever).
Just to reiterate, though…
The Devout Atheist
The Evangelical Atheist
The Unrepentant Atheist
The Unabashed Atheist
I like that all of these throw religious terminology back in the faces of the faithful.
What’s the term the religious nutters use? The Self Avowed Atheist.
The Irreducably Complex Atheist
Someone’s prolly already said it, but just in case…
The Natural Atheist
I like the “of COURSE I’m a fucking atheist, what happened to YOU?” vibe it has to it.
The Inevitable Atheist
The Anatomy of an Atheist
The Reclaimed Atheist (or Atheism Reclaimed) sort of a take on the “reclaiming your virginity” stuff.
The Five-Minute Atheist (Yeah, I have no idea…)
Y’know, I’m starting to hate these rules.
The Threat of the Atheist (they find out there aint none except to their delusions)
The Once and Future Atheist
The New Old Atheist, or The Old New Atheist
The Eye of the Atheist
Gotta say I like The Irreducible Atheist though.
The Nail, The Cracker, The Trashcan and The Atheist (A Bedtime Story)
The Illustrated Atheist
The Measure of an Atheist
The Damned Atheist (or That Damned Atheist?)
The First Testament of an Atheist
The Boy Are We Stretching For Titles Atheist
The Last Temptation of an Atheist. Or maybe The Passion of The Atheist.
The Guidebook for Building an Atheist
The Atheist Next Door
The Pope is an Atheist (Unrelated to your book, and possibly not true, man would it get headlines.)
Yes, I am tired and have insomnia and am making no sense and you can ignore me, but I’ll continue. I like word games.
The Grounded Atheist – Messages From On Low
ok, sorry. done for now.
The Tastiest Atheist
Unapologetic jumped straight to mind, but I’m leaning towards Unashamed as well… all of which have been suggested numerous times already. It’s a surprise to visit Pharyngula after a day or so of busy other stuff, and find 1,000+ comments on a thread already.
The Triumphant Atheist
I attempted to read through them all, but gave up. Still, I was surprised to see in the few hundred or so I did see, that: The Happy Atheist had not been suggested. Think of the book The Happy Hooker for one connection, but also PZ’s usual atheistic theme.
ruthless
or
unplugged
Maybe drop the “The” (as suggested above).
The:
Feral Atheist
Personal Atheist
Utter Atheist (or Utterly)
Naked Atheist
Heathen Atheist (you mean they get worse?)
Bedside Atheist (perhaps borrow homey/religiousy adjectives from way back when)
Good News Atheist
“Uncompromising” or “unapologetic”.
Unabashed or Unashamed
“lethal atheist iv: the quickening”
Throw me in the “leave the blank blank and have all the suggestions in the background in grey” camp.
i don’t know what to call it, but i’m excited about the idea of a whole book of PZ fulminating about gob, jeebus, evilution, and all that other pious crap, not to mention a few science bits.
as with others here, just The Atheist immediately came to mind, or perhaps An Atheist since there are several around these days, but i sense the publisher is looking to give flavor to the title thus the need to adjectivify the noun-ish “Atheist”, so here’s another humble offering…
The Naked Atheist
The Iron Atheist
on a whimsical note, The Bearded Atheist (or perhaps the off-formula The Atheist’s Beard) seemed appropriate.
The Saddlebacking Atheist
…
Deathbed Atheist (In it for the long run.)
Children’s Atheist
Inevitable Atheist (shit, mentioned above)
Infinite Atheist (Eternal?)
Anthropomorphic Atheist
god’s Own Atheist (“God’s Own Country” = England)
Teh Ebil Atheist ((+ Oberlord?) … Pick up because looks unusual/funny.)
Defenestrated Atheist (sorry Ogg)
Triune Atheist
Virgin Atheist (Immaculate)
Insufferable Atheist
Atheist At Large
Atheists Amongst Us (Go with HG Well’s movie postery feel)
Home-schooling for Atheists
Atheism for High-school Students
Atheism 101
An Atheist Primer
(ie Assume we have succeeded and these are standard book titles.)
I really like “The Complete Atheist”
Religious people are always telling me I have a spiritual/god shaped hole in my life, they seem to think I’m somehow incomplete.
I suppose it’s inevitable that with this many replies “cuddly” would’ve been offered more than once. But, The Cuddly Atheist seems a perfect title.
~
I think trying to jam one word in a small space is too confining. I would have called it, ‘Who is that guy with the beard at the podium?’
Oh wait, ‘The Easy-PZ Atheist.’
The one at 222 (on FTB anyway), Uppruni’s suggestion of ‘The Irreducibly Complex Atheist’ certainly made me laugh. What a dig at PZ’s opponents in one swell-foop.
The:
Divine Atheist
Devil’s Atheist (Devil’s Advocate)
Magical Atheist
The Atheist Home Compendium
The Atheist Almanac (Both in old school covers)
Malleus Atheiai (In bold gothic script “The hammer of the Atheists.”)
Theophontes Atheiai (“godkilling/slaying athiests” … narcissistic, I know)
This is definitely the one for all the reasons listed above. It would be spitting in the face of reason not to use the gift the interwebs have given you in this word. It is perfect; short, cute, and meaningful. All the rest are second rate in comparison. The artist can do something cute with a gnu if they like. I’d do something very cute and cuddly, like a My Little Pony Gnu (surely they must have one!) but that’s me.
A subtitle is a good idea, I use them a lot on Amazon when looking at my recommendations list.
How the internet will kill religion
or something controversial like that.
OT, just bought two tickets for next year’s Global Atheist Convention, I assume the book will be available to be signed there.
This is blasphemy.
It is a bad title for a book. I personally think The____X is a boring formulation.
That said:
The atheist who rode a triceratops
The Gnuish Atheist
The Not So Gnu Atheist
The Missionary Atheist
The Facepalm Atheist
The Everyday Atheist
No idea if it’s been suggested, if it has it bears repeating:
The Good Atheist
It’s simple, it’s positive, it rolls off the tongue well, it states clearly and boldly that you can be good without God… and it’s sort of reminiscent of “The Good Samaritan”, only better. It also suggests, although it doesn’t say it outright, that there are bad atheists like there are bad members of any group, which may be uncomfortable but it is the truth. And as we all know the truth is everything.
The Mild-Mannered Fire-Breathing Atheist
Title: I’m an A-hole*
Subtitle: *A stands for atheist
or some variant
Actually, you should write “Athiest,” because nothing will make people more confused/irked than a spelling error in a published work’s title.
The Sofa King Athiest.
Atheist Among The Sheep ?
(What, too strident?)
The Unfettered Atheist
I feel that sums you up quite nicely.
The Jedi Atheist
The right atheist.
The enlightened atheist.
The straight forward atheist.
The professional atheist.
In tribute to Isaac Walton
The Compleat (sic) Atheist
Actually, when associated with “The Good Samaritan”, it implies that all other atheists are bad.
It suggests that the subject is unusual for being “good”, rather than the norm.
(If it is a book about atheism in general, then you could play on that implication and reveal that “the good atheist” is in fact most of them. But PZ is asking for a title that describes him specifically, and it would be hard to expand beyond the singular before appearing conceited.)
The Atheist’s Atheist
As a cover design, might I suggest a variant on the Christian Chi Rho symbol: ☧, but with a ‘Z’ instead of the ‘X’.
:)
has anyone suggested
the moral atheist?
similar to #245, it asserts the idea of being good without god that a lot of believers seem to find, er, challenging.
The…
Rational
Strong
Infallible
Evolved
Painful
Contemptuous
Morris
Militant
FED UP
… Atheist.
(1st post – howdy!)
As a cover image, might I suggest a variant on the Christian ‘Chi Rho’ Symbol: ☧, but with a ‘Z’ in place of the ‘X’?
:)
The Baby Eating Atheist?
Chainborne, awesome!
I always imagine something slightly more frightening for those who are scared of atheists would be something that would make it seem normal, everyday, like The Neighbourhood Atheist (which kind of makes you sound like Mr Rogers).
The Sceptical Atheist?
The Cracker Atheist?
The Zombie Atheist?
The Trophy Atheist?
It would help if you gave us a synopsis. I mean, are there even zombies in it? Ooh, I know, The Twilight Atheist. It would not make sense, but really boost your sales.
I started reading all the suggestions and, while funny, there seems to be a lot of people missing the point: viz. that PZ and his editor want people to read the book, not be frightened away by an aggressive title.
After all, while preaching to the converted is fun, it should be reserved for those who peddle in faith, not facts.
So, I’d vote for something soft, even cuddly (eek!), such as “The Joyful Atheist” or “The Natural Atheist”
And written by “A to PZ Meyers”… unless you want to save that one for a sequel. That joke is too good to waste.
Was going to suggest The Avuncular Atheist. it has a nice ring to it and gives an air of the kindly uncle giving good advice. Only problem is my thesaurus lists Christian as a synonym
I’d be okay with “The Baby-Eating Atheist”. With a picture of PZ in a cheap devil costume, holding a fork, looking confused.
Or (and I apologize) “The New Atheist: How An American Academic Saw A Movie, Ate A Cracker, And Changed The Way We Believe”.
(About “The Good Atheist”: to me, with the reputation atheists have, it sounds like it assumes non-goodness is a defining characteristic of the atheist, and thus one needs to specify the contrary… “The Good Terrorist”, “The Good (post-WWII) German”?)
“The Gnu Atheist.” Nothing else comes close, and nothing much says “PZ” more.
I was also thinking “The Shrill Atheist”, but Dawkins might want to use that.
The cult-eating atheist (if it is not yet taken)
The Rebublivore atheist (if it is stupidly theist, it is Republican)
The Ctulhu-worshipping atheist (internal joke, no t recmmended for book aimed at a broader audience)
The:
Mortal Atheist (as opposed to the immortal)
Ubiquitous Atheist
Ideal Atheist
Atheist Unbound (Compare Shelley’s “Prometheus Unbound” – in which Zeus is overthrown)
Athiest Wakes! (compare Wyndham’s “The Kraken Wakes” – features giant squid. Link.
The Cromulent Atheist.
1070 replies before me? I fear you won’t get this far down the list.
P Z Myers
American Atheist
Cuddly!
The:
Risen Atheist (through the ranks at least)
Uncrucified Atheist (some goddists regret this)
Platonic Atheist
Adamant Atheist (Adamantine – unbreakable, unyielding)
Uber-Atheist
Lord Atheist (Teh Ebil Oberlord)
@268 Thommo:
The Gnu Atheist is a great idea. I second that notion.
Hial Tpyos!
The Emperor Atheist
The Supreme Overlord Atheist
The Baby-Eating Atheist
The Cracker-Murdering Atheist
The Deiicidal Atheist
The Noisy Atheist
The Absolute Atheist
The Consumate Atheist
How about these:
The definite Atheist (not really that provocative but still “positive, catchy and descriptive”)
The Sleazy Rump Atheist (while some may argue that this one falls into the Poopyhead category, note that Sleazy Rump is an anagram of Paul Z Myers, so it would strike a nice personal note ;-)
Two possibilities ‘The Troublesome Atheist’ or ‘The Truculent Atheist’.
If you go with the first you could use the line of Henry the VIII about Thomas Beckett. “will no-one rid me of this troublesome priest”
The cover could feature you in Papal regalia with a big scarlet ‘A’ on the mitre.
Only problem with that is the Archbishop of Canterbury might accuse you of copying him.
The Endless Adjectives, Episode II. Go!
chigau, ^5
why not just, The Atheist?
I dont think it needs an adjective.
The Virtual Atheist
The Modern Atheist
Because, let’s face it, the Internet.
Or…
The Whole New Atheist
The Amorous Atheist
Just make sure they’d don’t put a picture of you on the front cover ;)
No offence.
I’ll go with “The Irreverent Atheist”, which someone has already suggested (kudos!)
It’s witty and catchy, which is what you need in a book title, and true.
I would go for ‘the confident atheist’.
I really really liked “The Ardent Atheist” but there is already a website by that name. Doesn’t mean it can’t be used but… there could be issues. So I plugged it in to my dictionary thingy which also spits out a thesaurus listing for “ardent” an this is what I got (all 231 of them):
Some of them outright suck, but most have some possibilities and have even been mentioned already in one form or another.
I also like “The Ecumenical Atheist” as a little word play kinda thing.
The Quiet
AmericanAtheistThe Arresting Atheist
The Chainsaw Athiest
(cuts through shit like you wouldn’t believe)
Convenor of http://www.60secondscience.net
A global science education project where you make a 60 second video to explain how the world works.
Free entry, $11k in prizes, sponsored by Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, Melbourne, Australia
The Unwavering Atheist
Born Atheist
Nothing But Atheist
Why do you need a descriptive adjective? Why not simply
THE ATHEIST
‘An Atheist’
This has filled up. I’ve noticed that a lot of people have recommended just The Atheist. I think that title would be a bit presumptuous, and not in a cute religious-bating way.
I’d find something that tells that PZ is not THE Atheist, but one of many much more compelling. I think that would appeal to the closet atheists and out and proud atheists and maybe even leave the religious with the impression of We [atheists] are everywhere MWHAHAHA ;).
If only I could come up with an actual title! In case someone else mentioned this or recommended something that fits my description, sorry for not mentioning it but I have “only” read the first 7– comments and skimmed the rest in a minute.
“The Inner Atheist”
And the front cover should be made of a mirror-like material. I think that’s quite provocative.
The spirited atheist.
The blaspheming atheist.
The heretical atheist.
The empirical atheist.
The unapologetic atheist.
Lets borrow something from Dawkins and go for…
The Selfish Athiest (in the same spirt of course)
The Sinister Atheist (as in sinistra, left).
I don’t know if you already had this suggested and shot it down or not (didn’t see it in the comments), but you should drop the current title and name it “Pharyngula: The Book (Volume 1)”.
…Or just call it “The Pharyngulator”…
“The Maverick Atheist”
Or lets change it and try…
“I, Athiest”
The Atheist Goats on Fire!
The Atheist, the pygmy and the dwarf.
Happy? Content? Bearded?
The Octo-Atheist.
(Sorry if this has been used before.)
The Honourable Atheist
The Gnuest Atheist
Sets you apart from the other Gnu atheists.
The Honest Atheist
The Bible Thumping Atheist
No one can thump bibles like you can.
That will get them thinking.
The Adamant Atheist.
The Godless Atheist.
(Tautology sells books.)
Forgive me if someone has already brought this one up. The first thing that popped into my mind was “Galloping”. Am I dating myself?
When I see photos of you I think, “Adorable” and “Cuddly”. Go on ya big lug, show us how human you are.
Has someone said Intrinsic yet? I did a quick search for it but I didn’t see it.
The Intrinsic Atheist
Intrinsically Atheist
Cheers!
“Just Another Atheist”
In recognition of the fact that Dr Myers is not THE Atheist. We are legion.
—
I like “The Natural Atheist,” suggested several times already, and for good reasons.
—
“Of Course I’m An Atheist / Nothing Else Makes Sense”
Or an adverb and an adjective:
The Perfectly Zealous Atheist
Or not:
Proudly and Zestfully Atheist
The Pharyngula Zone–Science and Atheism
The Easy PZ Atheist
The Atheist of Steel
The Skeptatheist
Going Atheist
I also submit THE HAPPY ATHEIST, as it hearkens back to something Nabokov said, that one of the great taboos of American publishing was about “the happy atheist who lives a happy and useful life, and dies in his sleep at the age of 106.”
Delurking to offer a few more suggestions, and support some made previously:
The Compleat Atheist.
The Articulat Atheist.
The Unapologetic Atheist.
The Unaccommodating Atheist.
The Gleeful Atheist.
The Blogging Atheist.
The American Atheist
The Irreducibly Complex Atheist.
The Evolutionary Atheist.The Crusading Atheist, The here and now Atheist,
As someone suggested earlier, and if you were starting a title from scratch:
Holy Shit
Except it’s more of a Hitch title perhaps.
Christopher Hitchens edited a book called ‘The Portable Atheist’ (my copy of which is too huge to fit in a coat-pocket or handbag, and therefore fails to do what it says on the tin) so if you’re using the same format it’s got to look good on the shelf next to that.
The Stationary Atheist? No.
The Discerning Atheist
Your Friendly Neighbourhood Atheist
A Suitable Atheist
An Atheist For All Seasons
I like ‘Gnu’ and ‘Compleat’.
The Scarlet Atheist.
Hey wait, has anyone said this one yet?
The Unflinching Atheist?
Maybe?
ok. I’ll go to sleep now.
The Happy Atheist
As a bonus, also doubles up as a pub name.
Must admit I have read many, but not every suggestion. Maybe a repeat.
The CATHOLIC Atheist
——————Dictionary————————–
ADJECTIVE:
Of broad or liberal scope; comprehensive: “The 100-odd pages of formulas and constants are surely the most catholic to be found” (Scientific American).
Including or concerning all humankind; universal: “what was of catholic rather than national interest” (J.A. Froude).
Catholic
Of or involving the Roman Catholic Church.
Of or relating to the universal Christian church.
Of or relating to the ancient undivided Christian church.
Of or relating to those churches that have claimed to be representatives of the ancient undivided church.
NOUN:
Catholic
A member of a Catholic church, especially a Roman Catholic.
—————————————————–
Many atheists (PZ?) like me are still catholic. Never excommunicated?
I think your book includes lots of catholic related comment.
Best of all it’s shocking, surprising and generates curiosity about what
this seemingly contradictory title could mean.
Catholics and atheists might be curious.
It might offend catholics and atheists to be associated with the other.
Great for stimulating book sales.
If you use this title I would like an autographed gift copy. Otherwise I’ll buy it like everyone else.
Have fun PZ!
“The Cephalopods and the Atheist”
Leave it as is, with the _____
The “New” Atheist?
The Consummate Atheist
The Supreme Atheist
The Conscientious Atheist
The Flying Atheist
Less mythical than the Dutchman, as much a legend already.
“Offending” or “offensive.” If that’s the line being pushed in the book. “Insolent” maybe.
Glen Davidson
The cartilaginous atheist
I have always enjoyed the word “indefatigable.”
Also, if you want to make it personal while also reflecting the changing times:
The COMMON Atheist
Subtitle: In Its Natural Habitat
Is this still on?
The Ensnared Atheist – as in snared once too often by Poe’s Law
The Fire-breathing Atheist
The Witch-hunting Atheist
“Oh, and no, you don’t get a cut for suggesting one adjective.”
The Tightwad Atheist.
The Latent Atheist
The Observant Atheist
The Post-Agnostic Atheist
The Omnipresent Atheist
The Galliform Soup Atheist
.
The Pluripotent Atheist
* Dictionary: Not fixed as to potential development.
(reinterpreted ‘fixed development’ as indoctrination)
.
Could go for a bait-and-switch:
The Grandma-safe Atheist
The Nonthreatening Atheist
The Humble Atheist
The Naughty Atheist
The Quoteminable Atheist
The Spiritual Atheist (*snortle*)
The Heartland Atheist
I’m a big fan of the “The _________ Atheist” but I have a few other suggestions
The Cogent Atheist
The Articulate Atheist
The Un/Deobfuscating Atheist
The Crackernapping Atheist
Vilified?
Impenitent?
Impish?
Tentacular?
Adjectival?
The “Screw your Faitheist” Atheist
It is right there, in your own paragraph: “The Infidel Atheist”…
The Righteous Atheist
Unrepentent
The Next-Door Atheist
The Pharynguloid Atheist
(Is this the correct adjective to describe the Pharyngula stage of an animal? “pharyngulised”, “pharygeal” … )
My suggestions:
The Aeducated Atheist
The PZazzed Atheist
Also,
The Aeducator Atheist
The fearless atheist.
with too many suggestions to read it has to be
The POPULAR Athiest
indelible
The Badass Atheist
The Motherflippin Atheist
The Considerate Atheist
Unrepentant
Late to the thread and have not read all the entries — but just off the top of my head I like
The Gnu Atheist
or
The Unapologetic Atheist.
The Militant(ly) Gnu Atheist
Dictionary
/ducks
The Manly Atheist.
You’ll at least get Maddox to notice you.
Or you could go the shocking route and be The Asshole Atheist. Or The Fucking Atheist. Either would get attention, that’s for sure!
The Militant Atheist. (With tongue planted firmly in cheek.)
In view of your strong opinions and the present attempts by some to establish state religion,
I thought The Constitutional Atheist appropriate.
Good luck with the title anyway.
The Agitated Atheist
Why yes, I am a sucker for alliteration.
the fifth horseman
My favorite has been said a few times: The Audacious Atheist
Unrepentant
(which I am even though many will have beaten me to it)
Roy
The Gentle Atheist
(better than The Ironic Atheist, I think)
“irritated”
The Triumphant Atheist
I like “furious” or “devout.”
Of course, if I had my way, it would be “badassmuthafuckin'”
Acloset
Nobody has come up with “Fat” yet?
I liked the “God-damned Atheist” suggested above. I think it captured your confrontational, plain speaking approach. However, I’ve always thought that a good name for you would be “Darwin’s Kraken”. How about that for a title?
Maybe a subtitle with ‘atheist’ in it if you really want the word on the cover.
The Unrepentant Atheist
The Old Testament Atheist (That might get the Xtains to pick it up)
The Atheist’s Bible
The born-again Atheist
The Billy Graham of Atheist
The Clear minded Atheist
The Unfaultable atheist
The Dark Atheist
The God Terminator
The Cracker-gate Atheist
The Atheist who new too much.
Hell’s Atheist
The Militant Atheist
The Half-Poopyhead Atheist
The Perverted Atheist
Atheist On a Stick
“The ________ Atheist”
Just have a drop-down box with a list of the most popular suggestions like a google search bar.
Nearly 1200 suggestions? This is getting silly.
So, in that spirit:
Eternal Sunshine of the Atheist Mind
Rise of the Planet of the Atheists (Hey, that one’s actually kind of cool…)
Jay and Silent Bob Atheist Back
Night of the Living Atheist
The Fountainatheist
The Atheist Who Knew Too Much
To Catch an Atheist (You do kind of remind me of Cary Grant. If I squint. A lot.)
how about…
The Vitruvian Athiest
You could put The Angry Atheist with ‘Angry’ crossed out and put
‘Nonalliterated’ instead.
I also really like the idea about the search box.
Also: Here’s a site where it’s just a random word generator.
The Violent Atheist
The Hateful Atheist
Way too little caffeine has gone around. The outside the box literary/DC Comics inspiration needs to ramp up.
That said, out of my tattered paper bag:
The Unreconstructed Atheist
The Hidebound Atheist (ref. Gould calling Coyne a “hidebound gradualist”)
The Atheist Thunderbolt; (or just) Atheist Thunderbolt
The Party Crasher Atheist
“The Atheist Next Door” gets my vote too!
Incredibly late to the party, but how about the following (apologies if any have already been stated):
I am Atheist, Destroyer of Religion
The Best Damn Atheist
The Anti-Cat Atheist
The Bipedal Atheist
The Squidly Atheist
The Bearded Atheist
The Squidly Beardful Atheist
I really really like “The Anatomy of an Atheist”
Already submitted by someone else, but excellent nonetheless.
Soulful
Snuggley
Personally, I think that leaving it blank would be a great move.
I like “fearless”. It is positive, provocative, catchy. Also descriptive in so many ways.
Another slightly off tangent title. Maybe next time.
God? No!
The fa-rən-ˈjē-lətēd Athiest
This is perfect, because why:
1. Gumbies read only: The __________ Atheist (The dictionary marks are intelektul and disappear of their own accord.
2. Pharyngulites: Immediately recognise the in joke. Teh Ebil Oberlawd essentially invented the idea of pharyngulated polls. The reading would thus be: The (vote) YES! Squeeee squeee Athiest.
3. General atheists etc: Intrigued by the unusual word, may recognise Pharyngula in there: The Pharyngula Atheist. (Aah yes, I’ve heard of him. Lemme take a look.)
4. Less daft goddist: Intrigued by the unusual word, thinks it sounds like a form of punishment. “garroted”, “scourged”,”pharyngulated” ….: The Tortured Atheist. (Aah yes, that sounds wonderful. They deserve an eternity of pain!)
It is a title that means different things to different people. It is self selecting and self-referencing.
So there you go: “The Pharyngulated Atheist.” as written above. Please have a poll and vote “Yes”.
The Cephalopod Atheist
…
The Squid and the Atheist
…
The Reason You should be an Atheist
…
The Only Way To Truth is to be an Atheist
Bit late to the party… but what about:
“The New New New New Atheist”
Or some variation thereof…
The Atheist Under the Bed
Tyler Perry Presents Big Momma’s Atheist
The New, Improved Atheist
The Fundamental Atheist
The Hopeful Atheist
The Committed Atheist
The Burning Atheist
The Bible-Humping Atheist
The Big-Hearted Atheist.
I like “The Atheist’s Atheist”. Also: “The Malignant Atheist” or “The Quotidian Atheist”.
The Huggable Atheist
slartibartfast:
Love it
Or even… “The New (and Improved) Atheist”
The Atheist Under The Stairs
The Bombastic Atheist
The Atheist At The Door
The Evolved Atheist
The Complete Atheist
The Uncompromising Atheist
How about “The Indignant Atheist” ?
Someone has probably already said this –
The Pharyngula Phenomenum
just drop the Atheist off the end, you dont need it, we all know what you are :)
A couple more:
The Whistle Blowing Atheist (as in “leaking the truth”)
The Cocky Atheist
The Defiant Atheist
The Red Pill Atheist
Of course, instead of “The Fucking Atheist” you could go for “The Erect Atheist”.
Or, since I find myself subscribing to almost every statement you make or position you take, PZ (except maybe the bits involving beards), my personal choice would be “The Wonderful Atheist”, plain and simple but just oh so true.
How about a double anagram of atheist, “A theist? Eat this!” the second part in the sense of “read learn and inwardly digest”
Did anyone suggest
quintessential
yet ?
Read half the comments and it hasn’t been mentioned yet:
The foxhole atheist. :)
Well,on second thought,
Octessential
would be even more “personnal and about me, of all people”, but I doubt made-up adjectives qualify in this context
Like many others, I am in the ‘leave it blank’ camp (with the voluminous blank-filling suggestions in the background). However, some have expressed concern over such a title being improperly shortened to The Atheist. I don’t think it’s an especially great worry, but there is a solution:
The [redacted] Atheist.
It’s still a fill-in-the-blank exercise for the reader, but the blank is less likely to be removed even by the most casual or most hostile reader.
—
Stan
The Outlaw Atheist
As long as there’s a picture of you somewhere riding a dinosaur or something and waving a hat in the air.
The Turgid Atheist.
The Bearded, Ruffian Atheist.
Used to belgon to a group by that name … (Bearded Ruffians)
Wholly Atheist, as suggested elsewhere is my favorite.
Ravi beat me too it.
Indignant
The Antireligious Atheist
Why not appealing to your medium?
The Internet Atheist
Altough i don’t think it’s good enough to make someone want to buy it.
Maybe no adjective would.
Why not a different title?
“Healthy”.
No god has cursed him with disease or disability, his mind is sound and active, his skepticism is…well, healthy.
Is this a book about PZ Myers, the famous atheist, and his rise to fame? Then call it
The Famous Atheist
Didn’t want to be repetative, so…. Glanced through all the previous suggestions.
True story.
After a couple hundred, some highly repetitive DNA becomes evident.
A few hundred more, and things get a little blurry….
I may have blacked out, briefly. But what a good cause! To get to know a persona so well!
So – suggestions:
The Bedside Athiest
The Portable Athiest (assuming it is… how many pages we talking?)
The Unabashed Athiest
The Canabalistic Athiest (remember, the Cracker was consecrated, therefore transubstantiated, therefore human flesh – does it really taste like pork?)
The Newest Testament
Promethius Unbound (I think that’s probably public domain by now)
The Edible Athiest (with apologies to Margaret Atwood – it is an arresting title)
The Unstoppable Athiest
The High-Fivin’ White Guy Athiest (oops, sorry, got nostalgic for the few years I was living in B. C., watching the Seattle station….)
The Athiest’s Bible (surely to non-god someone already suggested that? I told you I was blacking out or hallucinating somewhre between 574 and 993)
And my favorite (sadly, probably still under copyright):
Childhood’s End
Respectfully submitted, with the full knowledge no one will ever read this…..
The American atheist
(as most of your topics relates to American morons believing in a paranormal god…)
(and remember that uppercase shouldn’t be used for atheist, as it is not the starting of a sentence or the name of a unique entity…)
I say go with the classic, “Evil”. After all there’d be plenty who call you that already what with you knowing more about biology than they do and it’s a word that almost guarantees a second look at the cover.
Who knows, you might even get a few sales from godbotherers who buy it blindly (insert your own joke about faith here) without reading the description and assume its a shocking tell-all book that will let them put the final nail in their compelling youtube video about how atheism is evil but then it will have polysyllabic words and confuse them so they’ll just quote a random bible verse instead.
@Jorge
It is however, the title of a book…
I think there’s a nice sound to “The Sapient Atheist”. In addition It has an obvious link to “homo sapiens”.
The Gnu Atheist and the Emperor’s Old Clothes (because The Courtier’s Reply surely features in the book)
or, if you must stick to The *** Atheist,
The Incorrigible Atheist
The ______ Atheist.
Then have adjectives splattered in the background of the jacket, not all of them nice ones either. Makes the audience think, “Well which is it?”
They’ll have to read the book to come to their own conclusion.
“Happy” is my new favorite, especially for the Nabokov reference, but it will work even for those who don’t know it. “Irreducible” is my second choice now.
The “I have a Koran buried in my garden” Atheist.
I don’t know why you wouldn’t just advertise the blog and call it The Pharyngulated Atheist.
Too bad it wasn’t a cookbook, The Tastiest Atheist has a nice ring to it.
Formidable.
The Pious Atheist
A “willingness and devotioness to atheism”
Unrepentant
“Atheist” or if that’s not long enough, “Atheist!”
The defiant athiest.
I think it was suggested by one other commenter, but my instant reaction to your request for suggestions was:
The Hopeful Atheist
So often hope is misconstrued as something akin to faith, or something that is solely provided by being religious. I also think it would be provocative in the sense that it sends the message that as an atheist what you genuinely hope for is the disappearance and disbanding or all religion, which of course is not only true, but will get a great many people hot under the collar (not in the bad way that usually happens in religious groups *cough*)
I think “The _______ Atheist” would be an own-goal: it would quickly be turned into “The Empty Atheist” by the god squad. “Aren’t they all”, they would quip as they smile knowingly at each other in pseudo wisdom.
“The Faithless Atheist”
I assume you discuss that faithlessness is a positive attribute so it would seem appropriate
The Expelled Atheist
The Average-Joe Athiest
So PZ… now that you’ve announced that it’s in the hands of Knopf, are you at liberty to let us in on the secret as to what adjective you chose that is going to fill in the blank?