Controversy in bookland over the publication of a new St Francis biography to be called Don't Call Me Asshole- A Life of St Francis. The publishers defend the choice of title on the basis of "the surprisingly modern personality that was St Francis' personality, and would be still if he was alive now."
Meanwhile the Booker Prize is to adopt the Eurovision format of the public voting for the winner from next year, with bonus points awarded to books recommended by the major political parties. The public are asked, when choosing their book choice, to especially bear in mind the categories of Relevant to Our Times, and Chillingly Prescient.
An option reportedly given very serious consideration was the deciding of the award by means of a 100 metre dash, though this was eventually rejected on the basis of being "undemocratic".
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17 comments:
"Don't Call Me Asshole" - a book about St. Francis? Well, that's a new take on the subject. And one, I suspect won't lead us to anything good or useful. But I could be wrong. The title is a kind of double entendre: "Don't call me, asshole (I'll call you)"; or "Don't call me an asshole." I guess the author is just pretty cute and witty. If it's all the same to you, I don't think I will be reading this book anytime soon. That's fine. Call me an asshole. Just don't do it to my face. I wish you wouldn't think me to be an asshole, but there isn't much I can do about that. Don't call me asshole, unless you have some deal that will make me money. Then I don't care what you think about me, just show me the cash. But then, St. Francis wouldn't think like that. Maybe it is useful to contemplate "What would St. Francis do?", asshole.
You'll admit the obvious success of the title in some respects, though. It got you thinking, and what more could one want from a title, other than possible relevance to the subject matter.
I will grant you the title did get us talking about the book. That seems to be the key to marketing nowadays: do something to break through the background noise. If they are talking about the book, because of the title, maybe they will pick it up. And if they pick it up, maybe they will buy it. So, yes, the title is a success in that regard. One of the big buyers of books in the US are local public libraries who purchase them with federal government subsidies. That is how books like "How to be Popular" by Rosie O'Donnell and "Why I Am a Great Actress" by Jennifer Love Hewitt get to be best sellers. Somehow, "Don't Call Me Asshole" doesn't seem to fit the bill. Too offensive to the old ladies and families with kids. So maybe it isn't all that succesful, after all.
They must be hoping the sectors of the traditional audience that'll be lost will be more than made up for by the more 'contemporary' peoples they imagine purchasing 'Don't Call Me Asshole.' A gamble.
"A book is a mirror: If an ass peers into it, you can't expect an apostle to look out [from it]."
— Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
Yes, the slave tends to carry his slavery around with him, even when peering into books.
The interesting thing about the master/slave dichotomy is that, once you become the master, you are enslaved by it and vice versa. IMO, best to be neither.
Andrew, did you invent this story about St. Francis? He's one of my heroes :(. But, that's neither this, that, nor the other.
Fact is, I was thinking earlier about how "asshole" is really only applied to men, the same way "creep" is. Rarely hear a woman being called an asshole or creep. My first boyfriend swore if I ever called him "creep," he'd dump me. I never did, till I wanted him to do that :). My next boyfriend objected to being called "Sweetie." Ditto for sayonara on that dude. And, my final one before I married? He said I said "I love you" too much one night. I never said it again.
Guys. For all this talk about them not listening to women, I think they listen too carefully. So, don't be a creep, asshole, or Sweetie and I love you (especially if you 'fess up you dreamed up this so-called book). Otherwise?
Go ahead, make my dinner . . . Bloody prime rib, veggie medley, Yorkshire pudding, baked potato, sour cream, and LOTS of Jack Tennant's special-formula bread with pure butter, not this factory-made plastic imitation. I'll say Grace.
Grace.
Rest assured, it's simply an emanation of mine own consciousness. Whether tis merely pure humour or more satirical towards something specific, I've no idea.
Just when I was getting ready to put down cold hard cash for this book. Now I find out it doesn't exist. What an a.... never mind.
Cogito... I don't care what you call me. Just don't call me "Late For Dinner."
Maybe I should write Don't Call Me Asshole myself. There's an obvious demand for it.
Yes, you should write it. There is at least one guaranteed sale. I will buy one. But then, maybe I will have lost the yen to purchase it by the time you get it done. I can always look for it at the local public library.
Last I heard, we should get a room. At least that was what one lady suggested. After I left, seems she needed to get a room. The lady posted a lot, said very little, but did a lot of dribble-bibble through big moon-eyes aimed at the moderator of the blog. At least that is the way it seemed to me. I could be wrong, though.
Yesterday was St. Clare Day. The priest at mass said we should listen to St. Clare and St. Francis and become less materialistic. This seemed a good thing to do. I had on a nice sport jacket, pants and tie combo. After mass, I told the priest I had decided to get rid of all my clothes except for the suit I had on. He said, "It is a great look you have there." I replied, "It won't look too good after a week." After I got home I got to thinking about it. I have since changed my mind. I will not be getting rid of my clothes anytime soon. Still, it was a nice thought.
"I will not be getting rid of my clothes anytime soon."
Oh, snap! (I was gonna angle — beg, grovel, flatter? — for the Chandleresque Fedora [*grin*].)
p.s. Here's the UBC story (and, the page *is* safe AFAIK); I felt sorry for the guy and that's why I responded to him at all; boy, did I get burned:
http://tinyurl.com/5v3o34
p.p.s. I am a Catholic; but, WTH did St. Clare say that I ought to have heard? S'Okay, I know; Google is mon ami . . .
Concerning said blog: I think the moderator wanted a more sedate tone. That is his business and prerogative. But, now it is... (Yawn). Concerning "Mr. Let's Analyze the Psychology of the James Brothers": ?????
As for that blog: No hard feelings. I enjoyed writing there. Nothing lasts forever. C'est la vie!
Concerning St. Clare: I don't think she said or wrote anything memorable. I saw on TV that she was from a rich family. She also had natural blond hair which was a real man-getter in those Italian days. The family was hoping for a good marriage. She heard St. Francis and wanted to follow him. The family objected. She lopped off her hair, which is still preserved in a glass case in an altar, somewhere. It was the poverty, chastity and obedience, and the eschewing of the world that was the point. Anyway, I still have my clothes. I lead a different life from that.
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