A couple of weeks ago I read an item on Bookslut about a book publisher trying to promote a book by giving away copies of it to "intellectual mavericks" at music festivals and such. Today I ran into some guys I know* giving away copies of the book on State Street.
Here was our instant literary criticism as we were waiting for the train:
"Hmm... 'All proceeds from the sale of this book will be dedicated to the conservation of strategic wilderness lands in Alaska.'"
"Well, I like wild animals."
"Animus."
"Oh."
"A guy gets turned into a ram. And gets chased by wolves."
"Oh. Are we going to stop at home or go straight to the restaurant?"
We had each taken a copy, but somehow after dinner I ended up with everyone's copies here at home.
* I keep running into under-employed improvisors giving me things, especially since half the people I know seem to be working on the Ted promotional staff -- and the Ted promotional philosophy seems to be "give things away and people will want to fly on our airline".)
