1. "Snooki"
2. Best
3. Selling
4. Author
I think this book being on the best seller list may be more than a guy can handle!
To me it's kind of like the fad of the mid seventies (and even today) where a successful person in one area will attempt to harness that current "it" status to branch out into other areas.
Consider that this usually involves releasing an album. Some of my personal favorites of those past attempts at crossover success are:
1) Leonard Nimoy -- The Legend of Bilbo Baggins
2) William Shatner -- anything (Common People was actually a great track though) for double your fun there is this best of album that features both Kirk and Spock!
3) Tim Curry -- Fearless
4) Sissy Spacek -- Hangin' Up My Heart
5) Bruce Willis -- The Return of Bruno
More recent fare has been of better quality but none the less unexpected:
1) Minnie Driver -- Everything I've Got in My Pocket
2) Christian Kane --
The House Rules3) Ewan McGregor -- Moulin Rouge
4) Gwyneth Paltrow -- Glee
and Country Strong
5) Jared Leto -- any 30seconds to Mars release
I understand that Ewan and Gwyneth are both related to movie projects. But, both actually have great voices in my opinion. Personally, I'm not a huge 30 seconds to mars fan but they sell albums and put butts in seats.
I was shocked that I thoroughly loved the Minnie Driver album and the follow up Seastories. Christian Kane for those of you who aren't big TV fans was a regular part of Angel back in the day and is currently kicking ass as Eliot Spencer on LEVERAGE. As a rule country is not my style...but I got sucked in when I heard a single from the album on iTunes and was hooked from there.
But, back to the whole Snooki's a best selling author thing. This leads me to think about how consumer driven we are as a society now. We buy things we don't need based on the recommendation of people we don't actually know!
There was a point in history where the only way that a product became a top seller was if it really worked. Or, if it was actually a good product. Word of mouth has been replaced with the celebrity endorsement. We're now taking advice on what to buy from TV personalities and sometimes the use of the word "Personality" is truly ironic.
When it comes to TV personalities who I trust to sell me food/products that could end up killing me I would count...um...0!! Now I may take a recommendation for a band or a book from a celebrity that I like. But, those few people are people that I pay closer attention to than just what their character does on TV. AKA: I know the actors real name!
Nothing was more annoying then when I worked in retail and someone would come in and I'd have an exchange like this:
Them: "Do you have that CD that _____ (character name) was talking about?"
Me: "was it during the show?"
Them: "Nope, it was on Letterman."
Me: "You do know that _____ (character name) isn't their real name right?"
Them: "What does it matter?"
Me: silently ..."you suck!" out loud "Let's Check"
As for the whole Snooki thing I chuckle because for some reason I think of a rerun of Family Guy I just watched the other day.
After years of toiling on his "novel", and having it fail miserable, Brian (the family dog) gives up on writing. Only to write a second book on a dare once he reads a self help book.
Brian gets loaded and writes a book in one night that jumps to the top of the best seller lists making him an overnight celebrity. The best part is that the book is almost 90% blank pages. What you get is a chapter like "setting your goals". The book tells you to write down the goals that you want to set for yourself to help make you more successful. Then the book has you write down ways you plan on achieving your goals.
It is the pet rock of books! And it sells. The sad part is that I am convinced that a similar book would sell for real.
In the end people will always buy things they don't need, based on the recommendations of people they don't know. Truly though, if you can't count on a "Star" like Snooki to sell you a good book? Who can you trust?
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