Japanese Women Don’t Get Old or Fat by Naomi Moriyama and William Doyle. It seems Mireille Guiliano's French Women Don’t Get Fat was either so popular or so provocative (or both) that it spawned two bandwagon-jumpers. The second is Mediterranean Women Stay Slim, Too by Melissa Kelly and Eve Adamson. The point of all these books is basically this: American women, you're all fatties. Apparently, every non-American woman is holding the key to eating healthy in her size 2 jeans. The answer seems pretty obvious, ladies — move...to another section of the bookstore before you cry or hit someone.
I've been searching for that book inside me, the one that only I could write. Maybe I should take a hint from these books (even if they don't sell a fraction of their source material) and write my own reaction book...
Donny & Donnie & Donny. That's right, Julie Powell. You may have used your year-long pseudo-apprenticeship with Julia Child as the basis of your book Julie & Julia, but I'm going to bask in the mentoring glow of not one but two famous Donnie/y's: Donnie Whalberg and Donny Osmond. (Unlike Julia Child, they may not be technically "dead," but they are definitely not famous any more - isn't that the same thing?) Over the course of a year, I can learn the funky choreography and ripped-jeans style (including the bound-for-a-comback rattail) of ex-New Kid on the Block bad boy Donnie while studying the former TV/pop singer Donny's 100-watt smile. I'll be a body-rockin' pop star with Chiclet teeth that makes Justin Timberlake look like Joey McIntyre (Joey who? Exactly).
Oslo & I. Marley & Me may be about the world's worst dog, but I don't have the world's best dog — or any pet, for that matter — to respond to John Grogan's book. I do however, have a squirrel that joins me when I eat on my back porch. Living in the city, he's so comfortable around humans that he walks right up as if expecting his own Eggo. I named him Oslo because he's urban and a little worldly - I can tell by his eyes that he's been a few places and seen a few things. Follow our hilarious hi-jinks as he runs up and down a tree! Appears nervous! Gives me rabies! Of course, after I've learned everything Oslo, in his infinite squirrel wisdom, has to teach me, a tear will be shed and inner peace will be realized. I smell a Pulitzer...wait, that's just the rabies talking.
Article comments
1 - chantal stone
Great Piece, Don...you so funny! ;)
2 - Don Baiocchi
Thanks, Chantal. Even when no one else reads my articles, I can always count on you for kind words.
3 - Steve
Don't worry, Dan, as far as books go, only about 10% of the population read anything more than the TV Guide or a magazine, so unless your article is about a top ten bestseller, chances are low you'd get much response anyway...don't take it personal.
I like reading articles about lesser known books, lots of interesting topics out there being covered in the book world. You made some interesting mentions and connections. Well done.
4 - Don Baiocchi
Hey, thanks Steve. I don't take it personally anyway. If anything, it's been very interesting to see which articles get feedback and which don't. It's not always what you'd expect.