Nope. If you really want cultural impact, you gotta come up with a really stupid book idea.
From today's Globe & Mail:
So it is that, at their recent sales conference, many Raincoast sales representatives reported that the surprise hit of the season so far has been the Chronicle Books title Fuck This Book. Here is this season's poster boy for the stupid book. Author Bodhi Oser's scheme is simple: Wander around with bumper-stickers that say Fuck and a camera. Place bumper sticker over sign to create hilarious incongruities like "Fuckle Up and Drive Safely" and "Please Do Not Fuck the Pigeons." Snap photo.
Fuck This Book captures many of the key ingredients of the genre. It feels vaguely subversive, it's brightly rendered, and you can spend two minutes or two hours thumbing through it. It takes a single silly idea and goes with it. And goes with it. And goes with it. Finally, Fuck This Book is populist-inspired in that arm's-length Internet way. You can visit the website and order your own bumper stickers and submit/peruse more hilarious pics.
For the record, if anyone cares, I'd really like to own a copy of Me Write Book. Bigfoot was my first non-sexual crush.
3 comments:
Now Now -- if you're going to criticize, you have to be at least as amusing as the people who go to the trouble to come up with stupid and amusing one-joke items.
To wit:
t shirt spotted today on Queen Street:
Girls baby T.
Picture of Che.
caption:
"I have no idea who this is."
Come up with something that funny, and criticize away. Otherwise, one must work harder, monkey, harder!
Alright...imagine this press release next year:
"From the tradition that brought you last year's smash gift "Fuck This Book" HarperCollins Canada proudly announces this year's must-give book "The Tao of Poo." Conceived by Dr. Hans Unger of the Ontario College of Art (author of "Caca-caphony" and "Look What Fell Out Of My Bum"), "The Tao of Poo" takes a light-hearted yet revealing look at our Western obsession with material wealth through a striking series of photographic images of everyday objects subverted with the word "Poo," written in crayon. (Images show street sign with "No Parking 9am-6pm IN POO", can of soup with label "Campbelll's Chicken Noodle POO", book with title "Fuck this POO".) A perfect gift for those who remain children at heart, "The Tao of Poo" will be also available in a special edition with a brown "Tao of Poo" crayon . $24.99 (regular)/$49.99 (special edition) Coming October 2006 (HarperCollins Canada)."
This looks like just another one-idea Christmas humour book for the gift market.
The top-seller on Amazon UK last week was a book called Is it just me or is everything shit?
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