I Read the Book...or Did I?

I recently picked up Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho to re-read it. Or at least that’s what I thought I was doing. Instead of that sense of comfortable déjà vu you get from re-reading an old favorite, I felt like I was experiencing it for the first time.

When I was a quarter of the way through re-reading American Psycho, however, I realized I was actually reading it for the first time. The reason the movie had seemed so different, so alien, to me was that I’d never read the book it was based on. Apparently, the book had been on my shelf for so long that at some point I just assumed I’d read it.

Maybe I’d read a few pages; maybe I’d even read a few chapters. But one thing was distressingly clear: I had never read the entire book.

Continue reading about my self-deception at BookRiot!

I Dragged My Girlfriend to a Wrestling Show

Have You Slept With Jack Reacher?

I always get a kick out of Wikipedia disputes. In this screenshot, someone has challenged the assertion on the Jack Reacher entry that Reacher is "allegedly quite a handful in the bedroom."

Please, if you personally know about the fictional character's bedroom stamina, head over to Wikipedia and add a citation ASAP.

UPDATE 2:16PM: Some Wikipedia nerd deleted that line now. Booooo.

Publishing Satires

Like rock stars, novelists also love to write about their own profession. Luckily for them, plenty of readers are suckers for writer protagonists. Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield was a novelist; two out of every three Stephen King protagonists is a writer (or maybe it just seems like that). Calling attention to the artifice of novels by including a writer should break the spell. Readers should wake up from the waking dream state that the best novels lull us into. Surprisingly, we’re unaffected—especially when a master is at the helm.

But while I love serious books such as The Shining, some of my favorite novels starring writers are satirical. Publishing satires deliberately break the fourth wall, jumping up and down, waving their hands to get the reader’s attention. You’re reading a novel! It’s all made up! These books proudly wear their artifice.

Continue reading to find out three of my favorite publishing satires at BookRiot!

Upcoming Signings: Louisville and Kansas City

Upcoming Readings and Signings:

March 16: Carmichael's Bookstore (reading) - Louisville, KY

May 5: RT Booklovers Convention (signing) - Kansas City, MO