Kind of spooky looking…no?

For a lot of commuters like me, the hour-long train ride to campus is prime time to catch up on some reading. And it’s always interesting to see what books the rest of America (or at least Philly) is stuffing into their overfilled briefcases. I find that the lists don’t lie. My seatmates are usually absorbed in the latest James Patterson thriller or Jodi Picoult tear-jerker, right off the Barnes & Noble bestseller displays.

Some quick research on Facebook shows that Penn students are no exception. They finding time between assigned readings by Plato and Nietzsche to read all of the hottest contemporary authors. Our “Favorite Books” lists look suspiciously like the New York Times Best Sellers list, with maybe a couple titles from 11th grade AP English thrown in for good measure.

For the most part, these books are relatively harmless, and I’ll admit, they make for good beach reads, if nothing else. But then there are always some questionable titles that manage to achieve cult-like appeal through a bit of clever marketing and celebrity endorsement.

Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret is one such bestseller, claiming to hold the key to success and happiness in every aspect of life.
“You are God in a physical body,” says writes Byrne, “You are the master of the Universe.” With lines like these (plus a little help from Oprah), this self-help sensation has sold soldmade millions of copies and made made quite a few headlines. In fact, the last time I checked, it was second only to Harry Potter #7 on B&N.com’s Hourly Top 100 list.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I have to question America’s judgment when I start reading things statements like, “The earth turns on its orbit for You. The oceans ebb and flow for You. The birds sing for You. The sun rises and it sets for You. The stars come out for You. Every beautiful thing you see, every wondrous thing you experience, is all there for You. Take a look around. None of it can exist, without You.” Yes, this is exactly what this country needs–every American saying, “Ah-ha! So the world really does revolve around me after all.”

Maybe The Secret is an extreme example. But the numbers can’t be ignored. Millions of Americans, educated and uneducated alike, buy into these best-selling book crazes are buying into these the self-help genreliterary trends. Book culture is such that we have no choice but to rely on recommendations and reading lists.

But even as we look to these resources, let’s make sure that we ourselves we should be are being discerning readers. Let’s be our own book critics and ask our own questions. What are we reading? Who’s telling us to read it? Or better yet, what would should the DP bestseller list look like?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 27th, 2007 at 4:09 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.