Thursday, November 16, 2006

Whatever gets them to read?

I had a customer ask me for the OJ Simpson book yesterday. Yes, that book. The one coming from Regan books. He'd heard about it on the radio in his car and just knew, KNEW that he had to stop at the first bookstore he found.

Guess this means there is a market for this crap after all.

Color me ill. I was really hoping that this was indeed a rumor and nothing more.

I mean, I know that I embrace the, "As long as they're reading," mantra pretty thoroughly, but this turns my stomach (between that and Rapture Dude coming in yesterday work felt pretty surreal). Couldn't he have found decent reading material at this site instead? Look! Reading for boys and men with cool graphics and not a bloody glove in sight!

Sigh.

15 comments:

lady t said...

Just grin and bear it,BSC-I've had to sell books that make me ill or just annoy the hell out of me but hey,you can't keep stop folks from devouring crap if they want to. It may sound like a good idea but unless you want to live in a "Brady Bunch,*****whipped version of the world"(Wesley Snipes is so cool in Demolition Man)where all the restaurants are Taco Bell,not a good plan:)

What gets me is the two hour Fox special interview later this month,with OJ being Q&A by his publisher,who has said that she considers this book to"be his confession!" As Sam on Quantam Leap would say,oh boy!

Anonymous said...

You poor woman, BSC. I didn't consider the fact that real people like you would have to actually sell that evil piece of **** to people asking for it. Must be tough to keep a pleasant face sometimes.

Beth said...

I just heard (read) about the O.J. book and the Fox special this morning. It was not a great way to start the day. Pissed me off and made me feel sick. And kind of sad. What is wrong with the world? (Correction - parts of the world.)

Katharine O'Moore-Klopf said...

That Regan stooped to publishing the OJ book makes me embarrassed to be a part of the publishing world.

none said...

Umm. Wow. Er.

*is speechless*

Simon Haynes said...

Shame you can't mutilate every copy before it's sold.

We shouldn't be surprised - I mean, any planet where garbage reality TV shows are so popular is going to be an easy sell for this sort of crap too.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps you and the other employees should submit a petition to the head honcho explaining that hand-selling this book goes against every moral fiber of your being. Be bold!

All together now: Boycott, boycott, boycott!

Anonymous said...

There are some interesting responses to this issue by booksellers in today's Shelf Awareness.

As an ex-bookseller and now author, I think the whole thing's an obscenity.

Wendy said...

We were discussing this at work yesterday. Granted, our library's motto is "Something To Offend Everybody," but this is too much. We're waiting to see how many patron requests we get before we stoop to buying it - which will probably set off the Intellectual Freedom Police, but oh well....

Anonymous said...

This book makes me ill- and puts me in this strange place where I who have always considered any kind of book banning to be a great sin- wondering if maybe sometimes it is okay.

Anonymous said...

I'm also very upset about this because I'm a bookseller in a chain bookstore. I do NOT want to sell this book, and it makes me ill, but I know our store will carry it because the chains are about the money...

Anonymous said...

It makes me ill, too. I was a book editor during the the OJ trial, and in the days after he was acquitted, my boss actually proposed that we publish an OJ joke book. As everyone around the conference table calculated profit potential, I was the only one who was appalled. I said I wouldn't be able to hold my head up high and say I worked for the publisher of such a book. Ultimately they dropped the idea (not because of my rant), but other OJ books came along from other publishers, which just goes to show it is a business after all.

Adam said...

That guys website is a joke, right?

And technically, I work for OJ...

no_slappz said...

If the OJ jury had comprised rational people who cared at least a little about the law and justice, he'd have been behind bars for the last decade and looking forward to another century of confinement.

Let's remember it is the OJ jury that's responsible for today's outrageous situation, and let's not forget that an important percentage of the American book-buying public wants books like the latest from Judith Regan.

Me said...

It is a sad and sobering reality, indeed.