The relationship guide was written by a former pimp who goes by the name of Big Boom, The Daily Telegraph reported Friday.

Publishers, booksellers and librarians around the world offered suggestions for the 30-year-old award and nearly 10,000 people voted on the Bookseller's Web site for the winner.

Coming in at a close second was "I Was Tortured by the Pygmy Love Queen."

Other titles to make the short list were "Cheese Problems Solved"; "How to Write a How to Write Book"; "Are Women Human? And Other International Dialogues"; and "People Who Mattered in Southend and Beyond: From King Canute to Dr. Feelgood," the newspaper said.