Choosing what you read…
“So You’re Looking for a New Book to Read?” (in the 5/3 NY Times “Arts” section) provided me with a good laugh. I have to confess that many things the NY Times states about reading, writing, and publishing just provide me with more evidence that their editors and critics are full of it! Unfortunately, that history of arrogant advertising also proves they think avid readers are too stupid to choose their own reading material, an insulting attitude that the Times exhibits with many news items, not just those about art and culture. Hey fellows, NYC isn’t the center of the Universe!
Of course, the Times is no worse or better than other news sources—or Oprah, once upon a time—so perhaps we should analyze why media in general believes people need to be told what to read…or do. Is the public who reads the media’s pablum really incapable of making its own decisions? After all, the media often sugarcoats this advice by implying that you’re not a cool person if you don’t do X, whether X is reading a certain book or voting a certain way. When considering books and other consumer items, the Times is just aping the apes of Madison Avenue (that’s insulting the great apes, of course), but Madison Avenue is NYC, and so is the Times. They all think they’re the center of the Universe, so it’s natural that the editors just echo the very organizations they think are so necessary to keep their rag alive. Our last president, king of the White House prevaricators going from Jackson and Grant all the way to the present day, learned how to lie from Madison Avenue, after all.
But back to you readers. The following might seem harsh, but let me state that if you need the NY Times editors and critics or anyone else to tell you what to read, you’re no avid reader. (You’re excused if you’re being bullied by an overzealous high school or college English professor, of course.) Avid readers insist on making their own decisions about what books to read, and they will resent anyone who tries to dictate that to them. (I’ve resented a few English professors in my time as well as the Times’ editors and critics!) Any article in the Times that tries to do that (including the one I mentioned at the beginning) would be better used to paper the bottom of your bird cage.
So, you ask, why do I read articles from the Times about books sometimes? Am I a masochist? No, just hopeful. I can only hope that they or some other media sources might say something intelligent about reading, writing, or publishing. And, at the very least, journalistic media usually gives me something to complain about! Similarly, beyond the ad that follows this article and unlike Big Five authors’ advertising blitzes (even video teasers are used nowadays), I’ll not pay the Times or any other media to advertise or say good things about my books. The following ad is more just a reminder to you that I’ve written a lot of them, and you might find some of them interesting!
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The “Inspector Steve Morgan” trilogy. NYPD detective Castilblanco (a seven-book series) led me to London-based art detective Brookstone (a nine-book series), and she led me to Bristol-based Inspector Morgan. Although he only has a supporting role in The Klimt Connection (“Esther Brookstone” #8), he became a principal character in the three very different cases forming this trilogy: Legacy of Evil resolves and expands some things from Celtic Chronicles (“Esther Brookstone” #9), Cult of Evil finds Morgan’s team chasing a maniacal cult leader and scam artist, and Fear the Asian Evil expands their fight against autocratic elements that began with Russian operatives in the first book to Chinese agents and assassins in the third. You’ll never see any of these books mentioned in the Times (self-published and small press books are rarely mentioned), but I offer them for your consideration in choosing your reading entertainment.
Around the world and to the stars! In libris libertas!
