Books That Fit "In Your Pants"


Alison Morris - October 22, 2008

If you enjoy a good juvenile joke every now and again, today’s your lucky day! Back in January 2007 when John Green and his brother Hank had newly launched their "Brotherhood 2.0" video log project, John coined a new game of sorts, which involves adding the words "in my pants" to the end of book titles, just for a laugh. I recently discovered an online list of these "in your pants" jokes, which includes such gems as:

 A Series of Unfortunate Events In My Pants by Lemony Snicket
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets In My Pants by J.K. Rowling
The Very Hungry Caterpillar In My Pants by Eric Carl [sic]
Guess How Much I Love You In My Pants by Sam McBratney
Breakfast of Champions In My Pants by Kurt Vonnegut

The list is supposedly "All the in your pants jokes that John Green will ever need," but frankly I’m just not sure that list is half as long as it should be, nor is it half as exact in places. For example, the only book included by the lovely Kate Klise, who did an event with us at the start of this week, is Regarding the Bees in My Pants, which is rather funny, but not half so entertaining as Regarding the Fountain in My Pants. And the list doesn’t include the following titles which appear in my home library and which I think lend themselves well to this pointless but entertaining gag:

Peace Like a River in My Pants by Leif Enger
The Good, Good Pig in My Pants by Sy Montgomery
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing-in-My-Pants by M.T. Anderson (yes, I added hyphens, but I think that’s allowed)

What titles (for any age!) in your bookstore or library are improved or "enhanced" by this exercise? (Yes, this post is starting to sound like SPAM.) Please list your best "in your pants" jokes here, so that we can all appreciate them and add a wealth of new suggestions to John’s list, which can only benefit from um… growth.

While you’re thinking about which titles to post in the comments field, you can watch John’s original video post on the "in your pants" subject here:

37 thoughts on “Books That Fit "In Your Pants"

  1. teacherninja

    I’ve put more thought into this than is healthy (been following the nerdfighters for a while) and my favorite is Everything That Rises Must Converge In My Pants by Flannery O’connor.

    Reply
  2. lizamo

    Looking at my shelf I see: I Can Make a Differnce In My Pants Four Perfect Pebbles In My Pants IF You Give a Mouse a Cookie In My Pants Antoher Kind of Cowboy in My Pants

    Reply
  3. CL

    We used to do a similar activity when bored in church–adding “in the bathtub” after the titles in the hymn book. We usually got in trouble as we tried to stifle our giggling.

    Reply
  4. Craig

    What to Expect When You’re Expecting In My Pants. The Human Stain in My Pants The Secret in My Pants The Awakening in My Pants The Lucky One in My Pants The Dying Animal in My Pants Things Fall Apart in My Pants The Fountainhead in My Pants The Stranger in My Pants Much Ado About Nothing in My Pants The Color Purple in My Pants (no explanation) The Sound and the Fury in My Pants

    Reply
  5. Charity

    The Pigeon Finds a Hotdog in My Pants or The Neverending Story in My Pants or Where the Wild Things Are in My Pants or Green Eggs and Ham in My Pants! Ha ha

    Reply
  6. John

    The Secret Life of Bees In My Pants The Grapes of Wrath In My Pants and the Stephen King In My Pants Collection: The Stand In My Pants Misery In My Pants The Tommyknockers In My Pants Cujo In My Pants And from Charles Dickens: Great Expectations In My Pants

    Reply
  7. Noa

    My three personal favorites (in no particular order) are: 1. Alanna: The First Adventure in My Pants 2. The Hobbit in My Pants 3. Our Mutual Friend in My Pants Oh, wait! Number 4: The Dark is Rising in My Pants

    Reply
  8. Nancee Dahms-Stinson

    The books on my desk right now are Riordan’s The Sea of Monsters in my pants, Meehl’s Suck It Up in my pants and David Elkin’s The Power of Play in my pants…. I’m so happy thaat all of these work equally well with “in the bathtub!”

    Reply
  9. TC

    Hot, Flat and Crowded in My Pants The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in My Pants Everyday Survival in My Pants The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in My Pants

    Reply
  10. akanka

    I’m currently reading A Year by the Sea in My Pants and How to Make People Like You in My Pants…my next book will be My One Hundred Adventures in my Pants!

    Reply
  11. Abigail

    Someone just beat me to Pat the Bunny in My Pants, so I’ll have to add: James and the Giant Peach in My Pants, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime in My Pants, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay in My Pants, The Idiot in My Pants, One Hundred Years of Solitude in My Pants, and Inferno in My Pants.

    Reply
  12. Maheneen

    One Hundred Years of Solitude in My Pants The Stinky Cheese Man in My Pants Dead Man Rising in My Pants Something Rotten in My Pants The History of Doing in My Pants Looking for Alaska in My Pants I need to stop. Thanks for the laugh Alison.

    Reply
  13. HI!!!

    for tv shows 1) two and a half men in my pants 2) every body loves raymond in my pants 3) family guy in my pants 4) mind of mencia in my pants 5) pushing dasies in my pants 6) desperate housewives in my pants

    Reply

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