It is a well-known fact that truth is stranger than fiction, but to paraphrase George Orwell, some truths are more strange than others.

For instance, there is a man in Paris who has written 86,000 books. Assuming extreme precociousness, and assuming he is around 45 at this time, that number amounts to about 8 books every day of his productive life.

This is even more amazing if you take into account that Philip Parker isn’t actually a writer, but in fact a Professor of Marketing.

How did Prof. Parker accomplish this amazing feat? Not through especially fast writing, obviously. No, he has developed an automated method to collect public domain knowledge on any subject through Google, and collate that knowledge into book form. Through this method, he’s created such fascinating tomes as:

• The Economic Competitiveness of Groenlo*
• Webster’s Persian (Farsi) to English Crossword Puzzles: Level 5
• The 2007-2012 Outlook for Lemon-Flavored Bottled Water in Japan

These and 85,997 other titles are available from the prolific "author’s" website for prices ranging from the bizarre to the criminal.

I don’t know if I should despise or admire this man.

* A tiny, insignificant village in Holland’s extreme east, within sight of the German border.