Snooki wrote a book.….even though she admitted in the New York Times that she’s only read two books in her entire life. If you know anything about the reality of getting a book published, this fact is enough to make a real writer throw in the towel— or throw something more solid at the computer. Many are doing just that, throwing into the blogosphere some heated and heartfelt words on the subject…(which I assume they wrote themselves) . You don’t need to be a writer to relate; reading Jane Devin’s rant will make you want to scream along with her: Really, Simon & Schuster, I want to scream, really? Why not just shoot all actual writers point blank and be done with it?
As if the publishing industry didn’t already have enough problems, Simon and Schuster plays the villain for making the deal. Although obviously this novel is nothing novel. Why pick on Simon and Schuster? Or Snooki? When the Kardashians and Paris Hilton –and The Situation–are also published authors? Jane Austen and Charles Dickens must be rolling—and roiling in their graves.
Yes, it’s disheartening; for anyone who cares about books– or actually reads them. Some excerpts of Snooki’s book are floating around the internet, and I’ve heard a few choice words read aloud by Ellen DeGeneres, but so far I’ve seen no tangible evidence that Snooki herself can read, much less write.
Just to add to the unreality, now that Snooki is an author with a real book, she prefers to be called by her real name, Nicole. Really. Neither Nicole nor Simon nor Schuster are to blame for the death rattle of the real book. And by the way this isn’t really about books. It’s bigger than books.
Books ghost-written for celebrities might be the most painful symptom for some, but there’s barely anything you can buy anymore without a famous name or face connected to it—from cosmetics to charities. We all buy into the culture of celebrity that doesn’t even last the 15 minutes Andy Warhol claimed it did. So I don’t blame Snooki for squeezing out as many minutes as she can. I blame us–we’re allowing and enabling all the Snookis (sorry, all the Nicoles) to snooker us.
I”m no expert; I have no answers; I just have questions. Like: Why do we buy into this? What appeal makes celebrities captivate us? Where will it end? And why do I keep reading People magazine?
I sometimes wonder why America doesn’t rise up like Peter Finch in the movie Network, and scream: We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore!
Although the truth is we can’t seem to get enough. People in Los Angeles showed up at 9 a.m. for the chance to meet Snooki at 7 p.m. for her (cough, cough) book signing.
If you’re as burnt out as I am and want an escape, I recommend reading a novel…a real one.
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