The stuff that is popular in the "young adult" category is almost worse. I know a lot of folks have heard of Gossip Girl, but there is practically an entire subgenre dedicated to the lives and foibles of empty-headed over-privileged little mean girls. There is the Clique series, each book either named after a different snotty sounding teen diva (Massie or Dylan) or with titles like Bratfest at Tiffany's or Best Friends for Never. There's the Pretty Little Liars series, each of which features an eerily life like doll on the front cover. The list goes on. The worst of them is the Twilight series, a vapid teen-vampire romance series that is shoddily written and has creepy Mormon overtones. It just happens to be the biggest thing in publishing since Harry Potter. It's just frustrating, because what you read does have an influence on you, and I doubt that these books are mind-expanding to say the least.
Which leads me to my newfound talent, the ability to disagree with someone's choice of books but sound like I'm actually approving. It goes something like this:
Customer holding awful book: "These books are great!"
Me: "Yes, they are very popular."
Notice, I don't disagree with the customer, but in no way, shape or form do I endorse the customer's awful taste in books. Other acceptable responses include "Yes, I've heard that," or "Yea, a lot of people buy those."
The other situation in which this comes up is when someone wants my opinion on a book that they want to purchase. It's not really my place to criticize our merchandise, and I doubt anyone who is looking for Janet Evanovich or Steve Berry or (as happens too often) the Twilight series is really going to take my advice and pick up Gabriel Garcia Marquez or Jhumpa Lahiri or even Gregory Maguire, for goodness sake. So I nod, smile and reassure them that many other people have tried and enjoyed the item they have selected.
Just like many other people have tried and enjoyed McDonald's.
Yes, that is very popular. (But there is better stuff out there!)
2 comments:
I love you so much for this. I'm trying to find part-time employment, ideally in bookselling, since that seems appropriate with an English degree (it's just convincing people to hire me for retail with a college degree...student loans, people, I'm poor.) This almost makes me reconsider, but only almost.
My aunt bought the Twilight books this summer, not because she wants to read them on their own merit (if they have any), but because she likes to read what her students are reading so she relates to them or whatever. She said they're really awfully written, but apparently they're also making a movie of it. I think she told me the author is ex-Mormon, so that might explain the creepy Mormon influence.
Please don't hate me if I read Nicholas Sparks when I'm babysitting and put the kids to bed...because it's what the kids' parents read and it's all I can find in the house.
Yes, yes, yes.
That is what book selling is now. Not recomending your personal favorites or what you think the costumer might like, but reassuring them on their horrible, yet popular choice.
Atleast your store doesn't display 20 year old books on a display labeled "new in paperback" just because Hollywood is making a major motion picture out of said book (Watchmen).
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