Don't Judge a Book By Its Cover, And By Book Cover I Mean Me
Tuesday, April 21st, 2009I recently had a conversation with someone about dating and how the last book a person has read- or any book really/ the fact that they do or do not read actual books- can tell you quite a bit about them. Take The Da Vinci Code for example. He sheepisly shared that if he saw that title in a woman’s online dating profile, he’d keep on looking elsewhere. I like him immensely for that…admittedly for many other reasons as well.
It’s sort of but not really like how I once saw a woman on the bus reading a book entitled, Why Am I So Angry? Brow furrowed, I was amazed at her sheer defiance of what anyone around her might think of her reading interests, then inspected her closely for signs of latent anger. Why was she so angry? I suddenly felt compelled to know.
At the moment, I find myself reading Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs against the better judgment of my friends Emo and GDF (who, incidentally, we need to rename because the acronym doesn’t do her fanciness justice). I was in the mood to read something really different and asked them what they thought of the book and whether I’d like it. Yes, it’s great and no, you’ll hate it, they answered matter-of-factly. But my reading tastes can be very disparate, not to mention that I’m a fan of the sex, Tylenol PM, and Cocoa Puffs, I countered to no avail. Now that I’m reading Klosterman’s pop culture manifesto I have to say…I fucking love it.
Which ultimately got me to thinking, if generalized assumptions are to be made about us based upon the books that we read, can one book best encapsulate a person? Is it possible for a single book to do so? Or is it something that can only capture the youness of you at a particular moment in time and not necessarily the youness of you now or in the future?
I don’t think I’ve yet read the book that quintessentially is “me,” but Shopgirl came awefully damn close. You?
Ooh, I love Klosterman.
I definitely don’t think one book can encapsulate a person … at least, you can’t judge a person on a book you see them reading on the bus or at the airport. They might be reading it for work or school, or only be in the beginning stages of a book they thought was going to be good, but ending up sucking it big time.
It’s funny what that person said about The Da Vinci Code. I loved it (even though Angels & Demons was better!), but I’d so never post anything about me reading it on a dating Web site.
“SD&CP” was amazing and hilarious.
“Shopgirl” made me cry and ache and generally want hugs.
And I was legitimately surprised at how much I liked “A Girl’s Guide To Hunting & Fishing”.
And hell, sometimes fluff reading is fun.
I am an avid supporter of the Twilight series and not embarrassed (much) about it. It’s teenage fluff at its finest. As I keep telling people, I read for entertainment, and that stuff sure as hell entertains.
I would not dismiss someone for the DaVinci Code for reading the book per se. I would dismiss them if it seemed that it was the only book they had ever read. The DaVinci Code was a fad. You might as well read The Secret too.
I really don’t think I could pin down one book that would reflect me. I’m reading Perfume at the moment and really enjoying it. I think you can read the same book at different stages in your life and it will trigger something entirely different in you. One thing I would probably leave off a dating website myself is that I get excited whenever I read an essay by literary theorist Homi K. Bhabha – it sounds so dorky but I remember the breakthrough feeling at uni when I finally understood him!