I'm not one to advocate book banning or book burning, but that doesn't stop me from wondering why some books ever see the light of day...
There are some really horrendously awful books out there and I don't know if I'm more disturbed by the fact that someone wrote them or that someone actually took the trouble to publish them? Or even still, who the heck buys this dreck?
Take for instance that classic book "Henry Kissinger: Mystery Man of Power" which has been rotting in some person's basement since it was published in 1972. I'm thinking for the original price of Fifty Cents, it might have been a bargain, especially if you found out about his ability to fly or see through walls. (I have to admit, I do love that title!"
Speaking of loving titles, how about "Little Monkey's Big Peeing Circus"? A terrific title that brings to mind.... YECCCCHHHH! What were they thinking with that title?
And you should read the review of it on Amazon.Com... Would anyone ever really buy this thing? The picture on the cover is enough of a turn-off for most people...even if the title doesn't get you.
Which brings to mind my new favorite Urban Romance title "The Moanin After." No comment necessary here at all with a title like that, I'm sure you can judge a book by it's cover. Ewwwww...
So, with those books in mind...go to your local bookstore or online at www.bn.com or www.amazon.com and buy something else! Anything Else!
Dave
5 comments:
Now, I admit that the title "The Moanin' After" conjures up all kinds of unsavory images, but the Amazon synopsis paints a different picture of the book:
Book Description
This is a story of David Richmond, a lost dancer struggling to reclaim his equilibrium after his core rhythm has been taken away by loneliness, disease and the death of his best friend. It is a look at his journey from promiscuous party animal to a sober, mentally stable adult by way of analysis.
This is also a deep, wistful, brave and harrowing account of a handful of New Yorkers: Bliss Santana, a beautiful actress and single mother, living with HIV, Faison "Browny" Brown, a failed singer determined to grab that brass ring at any cost... and finally there is Kindred. Is he the personification of a pure and untouched soul, or is he just a figment of David's imagination?
The Moanin' After is a tale about ghosts and intrigue, hope, greed, ambition, and mystery. Most of all, it is an unapologetic look at urban life, its joys and pitfalls, where secrets are revealed and love is tested to see if it is indeed as David Richmond proclaims, "a verb!" THE MOANIN' AFTER is all this, and so much more.
Might not be so bad after all!
But that sleazy cheesy title lowers the quality of the book by oh-so-much, that I think some people
(most people!) will either read or not read it, based solely on the title alone...
Dave
Yeah, you're right about that.
INTRODUCTION (To The Moanin'After)
"Once, they were the party, baby. They were the freaks, and the dance, the music, and the whistles, the holler, the sweat, and the heat of the grind. They were the cool fools, hyped up on speed and booze and tripping on hits of ecstasy. They were the high-pitched sirens and the manic screams of the city.
They made the streets, the clubs, the backrooms and the alleys all moan and holler and freak beneath the indigo night.
They were the sex, and the light, the smoke, and the furtive cigarette. They were the weed and the high, and the ridiculous giggle after it. They were the hot sigh, the wild grunt, and the primitive sweat of the hard luck, transitory fuck.
They were this city’s rogue Romeos and its sorrowful addicts, its oxygen thieves, and its dying poets.
And then, they were gone.
And now, on Saturday nights in New York City, some eight million people still exist to live and breathe, to date and dine, to drink and smoke, to party and get high.
Some still live to dance and freak, to kiss, and to fall in lust with a body that glows as it sweats in the dark. Some still pray and some still dream. Some will aspire and some will quit.
Some will still create and some will only destroy. Some will bitch and whine, and curse at God and dwell in the loneliness of their own private hell . . .
And the city still blinks and strobes and winks and laughs its steely cold laughter at them."
* * * *
Yup. Sounds like real literary junk to me. You'd be better off not reading it.
Well, the intro to Moanin does sound intriguing, however, still not my cup of tea regardless of how well written it is...
You must admit however, that the title is used as a Hook to lure buyers into buying it...
Dave
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