Photo
Explanation
The Joke
The comic shows a man posing for what appears to be an author photo in front of a bookshelf -- the kind of dignified, intellectual portrait you see on the back cover of books or on university faculty pages. However, the book visible on the shelf behind him has the absurdly embarrassing title: "Is This Abscess an STD, or Is It from Misusing the Vacuum? A Guide for the Perplexed." The man appears oblivious to -- or at least unbothered by -- the deeply personal and humiliating book title right next to his head.
The caption at the bottom reads: "Funtime Activity: Hacking author photos taken in their libraries." The joke is that someone has digitally altered a respectable author photo by changing the titles of the books in the background to something mortifying, turning a symbol of intellectual credibility into an inadvertent confession.
The Humor
The comedy works on multiple levels. First, there is the contrast between the dignified, scholarly pose and the horrifying book title, creating an incongruity that is inherently funny. Author photos in front of bookshelves are meant to signal erudition and respectability, so replacing the book titles with something grotesque undermines the entire purpose of the image. Second, the suggested "funtime activity" of hacking these photos treats this vandalism as a lighthearted hobby, adding to the absurdity. The specificity of the fake book title -- with its dual medical/vacuum scenario -- makes it funnier than a generic embarrassing title would be.
References
The subtitle "A Guide for the Perplexed" is a reference to the famous philosophical work by the medieval Jewish philosopher Maimonides ("The Guide for the Perplexed"), adding an extra layer of humor by pairing a revered intellectual tradition with the most undignified subject matter imaginable.