Controversy over a title

[Ash]

My first reaction was 'ewwww'. I'd be offended too. Tho it sounds like from your comments about the actual text of the book, you wanted to shake up your family, so use the title. It might be the least offensive thing about the book!

I dunno, my family has its secrets; if I was going to write an expose for the purpose of bringing things out in the open, I'd want it to be as painless as possible for the readers. But if you have other agendas about your family and wanted to add insult to injury, I'd go for it.

[DanielAWillis]

Originally Posted by bevgray

The other thing to consider is the style of the genealogy. If it is going to be humorous, then you might consider a more placid main title with your working title as a sub-title.

If the piece is more serious in nature, you don't want a title that is too "precious" or clever.

I agree that if the family is your target audience and most seem upset about it, you may want to reconsider. If it's just a vocal minority and you think the rest of the book will upset or annoy them, you may be sunk with that bunch anyway.

Have you contacted other family members with whom you are close to sound them out about it? Might give you a better sense of whether this really is a tempest in the clan or just a tweaking of a handful.

The book is sort of divided between narrative and strict genealogical information. The narrative is meant to be an honest look at the family using what information is known and what I have been able to discover through research. I am quite candid about the areas where I am having to do some guesswork because of missing documentation. Because this type of text can quickly get very tedious and boring, I try to interject small doses of humor along the way. Besides, I am a wise-ass and could not keep the humor out if I wanted to.

So far it has been a small vocal minority who have expressed dislike of the title. Most of the relatives I have been contact with (especially the ones closest related to me) counldn't care less one way or the other. Some even like the pun angle.

What is so funny to me is that those who complain the most are offended that their name may be associated with a sewer. But the origin of the name means "one who lives next to the drain."

I have decided that if I change it the new title will be Legends, Half-Truths, and Cherished Myths of the Drane Family. Perhaps when I call our ancestors liars, my cousins may wish I stuck with the drain reference.

[Ash]

Perhaps I am more sensitive to the name pun because of the number of ways my maiden name was used and abused against me. I gleefully took my husbands name when we married. Lots less opportunities for punsters to do their work.

[DanielAWillis]

Originally Posted by Ash

Perhaps I am more sensitive to the name pun because of the number of ways my maiden name was used and abused against me. I gleefully took my husbands name when we married. Lots less opportunities for punsters to do their work.

It may not be at the same level, but being a child in the 70s I get a lot of "whatcha talkin about Willis?" and "Book 'em, Dano." This last one, I got more as an adult because I was a travel agent for years and clients were referring to booking their tickets for airplanes or their hotels.

[The Czar]

Originally Posted by Ash

Perhaps I am more sensitive to the name pun because of the number of ways my maiden name was used and abused against me. I gleefully took my husbands name when we married. Lots less opportunities for punsters to do their work.

I used to work in a large office building. One day, I was on a floor I rarely visited, and there was a woman's name place thingy that made the 13 year old in me giggle.

Her name, hyphenated, was Cox-Ucher. I heard her answer her phone, and the Ucker part ryhmes with pucker.

I died laughing.