Many times this is not the fault of the books themselves; it's the fault of my incredible levels of experience and sophistication. I mean, when you've read Romeo and Juliet and seen West Side Story, you don't need to be a genius to sense that things won't end well for the young protagonists of The Fault in Our Stars.
Anyway, having spent the last week plowing through Little Dorrit and The Winthrop Woman, I thought--hey, maybe The New York Times Book Review will have a useful suggestion of what to read next. Maybe something lighter. Maybe something SHORTER.
And lo, the Best Seller lists are full of one-sentence reviews. Here I was thinking I was being original and fresh. Guess not.
And have you noticed how many sub-categories of literature appear in the Best Sellers lists? It used to be fiction and non-fiction; hard cover and soft cover. Now there are Graphic Novels, Politics and American History, and my new favorite: Fashion, Manners and Customs.
So guess what the Number 2 Best Seller on the Fashion, Manners and Customs list is?
Pretty Happy by Kate Hudson.
And this is how the NYT one-sentence-reviews the book:
The actress recommends eating well and exercising.
Which cracked me up, because it's obvious the reviewer didn't find these ideas particularly
In fact, I get the feeling the reader wanted to say something more like
I can't read most fiction anymore since I spent so much time with it in my teens, 20s and 30s. I am more into biographies these days. I try to get everything from the library because I think lots of books are not worth buying! I exempt fashion and jewelry books, unfortunately. You should see the piles of books here. It's not good. I like Kate Hudson but I am skipping this book, I can just tell it would annoy me. I am reading 'The Beautiful and Damned' by Fitzgerald and liking it more than I thought I would so maybe there's still a chance for me and fiction after all but it will be by classic authors!
ReplyDeleteThink I will skip Kate Hudson's book ! LOL
ReplyDelete