Smart Bitches Trashy Books | All of the romance, none of the bullshit.

Here’s a unique Bitchery request: old editions of Nora Roberts novels - for academic study!

An writes:

I’m a graduate student pursuing a PhD on romance, genre and authorship based on Nora Roberts’ oeuvre. For my research I need old editions of Nora’s novels and I have some difficulty getting my hands on old romance novels. I analyze both the text and the paratext - cover, blurbs, etc. - of romance novels, which means that each new edition of a book is important to my analysis, even if no changes to the text have been made.

For example, Nora’s first novel, Irish Thoroughbred, was published in 1981 as Silhouette Romance # 81, reissued in the Language of Love series (# 1) and reissued again in 2000 in a Silhouette mass market compilation volume. I’m looking for all three editions of this book – and many others - but while one can rather easily buy the 2000 edition, it’s far more difficult to get the 1981 or language of love editions.

So, my question is: how should I go about gaining access to old editions of romance novels? I live in Belgium, which makes onling buying of large quantities of novels quite expensive because of shipping costs. As a graduate students my funds are limited.

I asked for more info about her project, because, whoa, dude. Here’s the scoop, if you’re curious and nebby, like I am:

Thanks to Rebecca, here’s a thoughtful article from The Guardian about the value of reading bad books. Self-absorbed books, pretentious books, poorly crafted books - they all combine to help you appreciate the miracle of a great book when you encounter it, according to Stuart Evers.

There are only a finite amount of books you can read in one lifetime, so spending time with one that you know within 50 pages is going to stink like two-day-old roadkill in the sun seems counter-intuitive. It makes far more sense to put it down and pick up something else from the ever-increasing to-read pile. Yet I feel somehow incapable of doing so.

This isn’t because I’m one of those readers who have to finish anything they start, rather that I think that bad books can be almost as instructive as good books. They show you what fiction looks like when it’s malfunctioning, when all its wiring is hanging out.

What I really like about the article, especially as someone who is always asking herself what worked, what didn’t, and why why why, is that the comments take issue with the books that Evers lauded as near perfect experiences of fiction reading. Love that. One woman’s perfect is another woman’s puerile. Same with romance. I’m always so curious about reviews that laud books I couldn’t stand, or vice versa.

According to Yahoo!News, burlesque star Dita Von Teese is suing Macmillan Publishing and a photo agency due to use of her image on Patti O’Shea’s In Twilight’s Shadow.

The papers filed on Friday claim that Dita’s face is “a valuable and integral portion of her celebrity persona” and that the company “commercially exploited her image and likeness to their own gain.”

Looking at the cover ( Larger popup version here) I wouldn’t have guessed that was Von Teese, though I’m reasonably familiar with what she looks like. She, or someone who alerted her, must have recognized the image and known she was the source.

I personally think it’sunderstandable for Von Teese to pursue damages if her image was used without her consent for profit, and if a photo agency sells images they don’t have the rights to sell, then, well, ruh roh indeed.

However, you and I and other members of the Bitchery know that Authors Are Not In Control Of Their Cover Images - but does the average person reading E!Online know that? My hope is that O’Shea doesn’t suffer any fallout from ignorant dipshits saying she oughtn’t have used Von Teese’s image. Patti O’Shea likely didn’t have a thing to do with the decision. Will her name and book title in the press under these circumstances be a good thing or a not so good thing? Let’s hope the “any press is good press” adage holds up for her. Good luck, Ms. O’Shea.

Kate Rothwell invited me a to join a Facebook group that cracked me up but seems very apt and savvy: How to Promote Your Book if You’re Introverted, Socially Inept.

It’s not a group for promotion itself, but to share ideas for book promotion: what works, what was a waste, and what does a new author need to do to navigate the world of sales with exactly 0 experience? Good idea, Kate!

Entertainment Weekly has a round up of reviews from all over. But I was taken with finding the most snarky element of each one. Two of my faves:

The Star-Ledger’s Stephen Whitty: In turning Meyer’s words into images, however, the movie sometimes makes them a bit absurd.... The special effects—with the undead leaping about like something from “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Vampire”—are more silly than surreal. The spiky dyed hairdos suggest metrosexual monsters who live not on blood, but styling gel. 

I have a little crush on Roger Ebert thanks to his review of Twilight: “She has questions. “How did you appear out of nowhere and stop that truck?” Well might she ask. When he finally explains that he is a vampire, he goes up from 8 to 10 on her Erotometer. Why do girls always prefer the distant, aloof, handsome, dangerous dudes instead of cheerful chaps like me?”

[Thanks to Darlynne and KatieBabs for the linkage.]

Time’s Richard Corliss: ”There’s an audible shiver as they first spy the teen vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), his impossibly gorgeous face caked in a mime’s pallor, sitting in biology class next to young Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart). When he holds an apple in his hands to present to her — the novel’s cover image — the girls emit an awestruck sigh, as if they’d just seen Zac Efron in the flesh or a puppy on YouTube.”

I wish Corliss hadn’t been so quick to dismiss the cinema version as a pre-dose of “chick flick,” pairing the retro film elements of focusing on the about-to-kiss faces with the youth of the audience as some sort of rebirth of innocent cool - then tossing that rebirth into a pejorative slam against “movie estrogen.” If he hadn’t slid into sexist derision, I’d be hollering with glee about Corliss’ point, made at the end of the film: “It rekindles the warmth of great Hollywood romances, where foreplay was the climax and a kiss was never just a kiss.”

So, did you see it? What did you think?

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Cassie Edwards Articles

• A centralized document of the Cassie Edwards texts (Rev. E, 2/21/2008, Tracks 22 Books, Added a Table of Contents)

One Big-Ass Bastard

• Bill Napoli, who’s a real sexist ass-hat
• Engaging in some friendly Googlebombing
• Another Napoli Update
• Smart Bitch Endorsed Art Auction
• WE WIN AT THE INTERNET