I'm just interested, that's all.
The thing is, though - I read publicly. On trains, on buses, on metros. Waiting for things. I put my book down as I buy my croissant at that nice bakery in the Gare du Midi where that friendly man told me I really ought to go to California: a sign if ever there was one.
Publicly, then. People will see me reading Sarah Palin's book. And they will draw conclusions from that. You, for example, are judging me right now, aren't you? Admit it.
Should I hide it inside the latest Newsweek? Or perhaps get a T-shirt made saying: "I'm also reading the Audacity of Hope, which is much more my thing, but I only read that at home so I can really concentrate and not risk creasing the corners or bending the spine"?
But you live in Brussels, I hear you cry. No one is going to care. Well, you may think so. But there are so many Brits and Americans here that I have considered subscribing to the New Yorker just so I can sit on the metro reading it, in full view of any potential soulmate who may happen to be passing through Belgium.
What if Going Rogue has the opposite effect? Roughly, in fact, the same effect as Sarah Palin's shrill voice shouting "What's wrong with being the party of no? We're the party of hell, no!"? Then what?
Just imagine if my own Josh Lyman was watching me out of the corner of his eye, wondering if I could be the one, and then I pull that out. Would he tap me on the shoulder, and kindly ask me for my phone number so that we could get together over dinner and discuss it sometime? Or would he run screaming to another carriage?
Maybe the T-shirt is not such a bad idea after all. You know. Just in case.
Update: Barnes and Noble now produce a fluffy book protector thing for just such eventualities. Oh, and the colour? Blue. All is well with the world.
7 comments:
book jackets were invented for this very reason.
Or you could just cover it in brown postal paper yourself.
But yes... I kind of am judging you. Even if it's just to think "why would anyone want to read x-number pages of propaganda?"
Mind you... this would make you at least able to speak with greater authority on why, exactly Sarah Palin is an idiot, or (possibly...improbably,) on why she at least is not a complete one.
(I say read what you want... cover it if you're shy, and then report back on your findings. I'm curious but I haven't the motivation at all to read anything she's written.)
2 words: Audio Book. Listen to the same content on your "mp3 device of choice" and everyone will think you're just listening to music. It's how I get most of my "reading" done.
My biggest dilemma in reading Sarah Palin's book is that first I would have to buy it -- thus providing her with the royalties.
I guess I could get it from the library...but I already have enough other books lying around that I haven't read yet. "Going Rogue" will have to wait.
-LaurainWA
You could read it while holding it by the very edges and turning your nose up, like it had a funny smell about it. Then potential soul mates will see that you are obviously not being suckered in, but are also sensible enough to read whatever nonsense she has to say so you can argue against it. Failing that, it could be your next 'at home' book. And you should drop it in the bath when you're done - that'll show it who's boss.
Ha! Laura, you make me laugh. I could also shout at it in a disgusted fashion every few seconds... that might work. Or get my diagnosed with Tourette's...
This is what I do with the Twilight books... However, the effect is slightly lost because I refuse to read them outside my own home.
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