Titles Can Be Fun
I am an eclectic reader. I don't know what that
means, but readers are always saying that so I
just assume it applies to me. I just like to read
a lot of different things. But since this column
is supposed to be about titles in some form or
fashion, let's talk about titles.
One of the things I like to read is books that
are made up of columns that authors do for newspapers.
The leader in interesting titles has to be Lewis
Grizzard. I'm sure you have had days when you
felt like the title on one of Grizzard's books:
Elvis Is Dead and I Don't Feel So Good Myself.
Another thing I like about these collections is
how easily they are turned into a book. Grizzard
wrote columns for the Atlanta Constitution,
and after about a year or so he had them compiled
into a book and sold them all over again. We can
all appreciate the analogy that Grizzard made
between our lives and the need for an oil change
in
If Love Were Oil, I'd Be About a Quart Low.
What better way for some of us to sum up our genetic
origin than
My Daddy Was a Pistol and I'm a Son of Gun?
Even if you don't like Grizzard's writing, you
have to appreciate his titles. Go to
Amazon.com and type in Lewis Grizzard and
get a chuckle out of the titles of his other books.
For the record, he passed away several years ago.
An interesting thing happened to me concerning
one of Grizzard's books. I was at a department
store (no not Wal-Mart as this happened before
the advent of Wally World). I was reading one
of his collections of essays and got rather far
in the book, as I could read a complete book in
two shopping trips with my wife. Right there on
the page Grizzard had a note for me: "If you have
read this far, go directly to check out and pay
for the book as I need money to buy some Gucci
shoes." I felt as if I had been caught with my
hands in the cookie jar.
Then there is Dave Barry with such books as
Dave Barry Is Not Making This Up.
Barry uses a formula for his columns with such
expression as “I am not making this up” and “This
was sent in by an attentive reader.” Yet we read
him each Sunday and then buy his books when they
come out.
Another book that got my attention simply by
the title was
The Joy of Pigging Out by David Hoffman. After
all those diet books, it was a relief to find
a book that appealed to the gluttonous side of
the debate. Both Barry and Grizzard offer reading
that can take the whole evening or just one or
two columns. Nice books to have by your bedside.
Since I have joined MyShelf, I have started doing
audio books. At first it was hard to keep my mind
on the book, or the reader would have such a nice
voice, he/she would put me to sleep and I would
have to listen to the CD all over. I developed
a method for listening to audio books. My wife
and I are on the road all the time, not long trips
but just local drives that take up a good portion
of the day. We put the CDs in the car and play
them as we drive along. This can lead to distractions.
One day I was listening and drove twenty miles
in the wrong direction from our destination.
Two books that I really enjoyed, (and I think
part of the reason the books were so successful
is because they were read by the author), are
Call Me Ted by Ted Turner (Willie's
review) and
Losing Mum and Pup by Chris Buckley
about the death of his father, William F. Buckley,
and and his mother, Patricia Taylor Buckley. Ted
Turner did a fabulour job giving the reader a
sense of who he is and what he stands for. Chris
Buckley illuminated the life of the Buckleys,
whose life and activites were not what I would
have expected. He pointed out their lives with
all the fleas and ticks but also with the love
that was always near the surface.
If you find a book with a title
that captures your attention, let me hear about
it. Maybe we can start a list of books with catchy
titles. |
