Thursday, November 16, 2006

BOOKS: Chain-Store Confessions

Picture a woman scuttling past an airport bookstore, with the full realization that (a) she's running late and doesn't have time to browse, and (b) even if she could, there'd be no point in buying a book because there's no way in hell she's going to get any reading done while flying with a toddler.

But she darts in anyway. She sees a display containing this book and this book -- one the debut novel of a pop-music princess, the other the first novel published in ten years by arguably one of the finest authors writing today. I'll leave you to guess which one she picks up and power-reads for several pages.

And, god help me, she enjoyed it.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

To be fair, Nicole Richie isn't really a "pop-music princess" and is basically famous for being Paris Hilton's (ex-)friend and being really thin.

...Ooh, unless you mean because her father is pop-music royalty. In which case, forget what I said, because the Commodores rocked in their day.

Anonymous said...

What's really tragic is the number of four and five star reviews on amazon...

(I read part of it in an airport bookstore as well, and I was there for six hours with ample time to possibly even read a whole other book if I'd wanted to. I have no excuse!)

lumenatrix said...

I've read both (I'm not ashamed to admit it) and you made a good choice considering the circumstances. Melancholy Whores is a beautiful book, I loved it, but you need to Sit and Read it, not brease through it in an airport. Ms. Ritchie's book is perfect for that.

Hey, there is room for all in my book world. :)