Subscribe via RSS

May 4, 2012
Board game hypocrisy
April 9, 2012
3 Blogs in 1
April 27, 2012
David Sedaris funnies up the Smith Center
April 23, 2012
Drink it in
April 19, 2012
Only at Marquee, only at midnight, only Morgan

Recent Posts

May 23, 2012
Unimpressed, lions
May 4, 2012
Board game hypocrisy
April 27, 2012
David Sedaris funnies up the Smith Center
April 23, 2012
Drink it in
April 19, 2012
Only at Marquee, only at midnight, only Morgan

Archives


March 15, 2010 · 12:15 PM

How to look smart for about $10

By Rick Lax

Read it and weep.

Photo: Rick Lax

Three years back, the Associated Press reported that one out of four Americans hadn't read a book in the previous year.

Four years before that, the National Endowment for the Arts found that 43 percent of Americans hadn't read a book in the previous year.

Now, I'll defend your right to not read, but I won't encourage it. As a book writer, I have a financial interest in your reading habits. I want you to read. And I'd assume booksellers like Barnes & Noble are on the same page as me. I'd assume they want you to read, too…

But maybe I'm wrong. Last week I saw the sign posted above in a bookstore.

"For Your Bookshelf"? The sign might as well say, "Look, We Know You Don't Actually Want to Read These Books — Really, What Kind Of Loser Has The Free Time To Get Through Those Darn Things? — But Wouldn't It Look Nice Sitting On Your Shelf? Think Of How Smart Your Friends Will Think You Are!"

When I see a "For Your Trashcan" sign above the magazines, I'll snap a picture of that, too.

Notice the title of the book below the sign.

Posted by: sharongracepjs on 3/15/10 at 1:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Lol...actually I didn't notice that. :)

Posted by: Rick Lax (Staff) on 3/15/10 at 1:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I remember sitting in the basketball coach's office in 10th grade looking at his classy leather bound editions of the classics. I told him I liked his book collection and he said, "Oh, those? The administrators put those in my office to make me look smart. I don't even know what they are." He said this very seriously with no sense of it being a joke. I was rather disappointed.

Posted by: Allison Duck (Staff) on 3/15/10 at 3:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)

That's so funny, Duck. Funny that the administration cared about making the b-ball coach look smart. Wonder if they did that for every teacher or just him...

Posted by: Rick Lax (Staff) on 3/15/10 at 3:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I try to read but the only time I have is right before I go to sleep as I lay in bed. Unfortunately this has trained my mind to get sleepy any time I start to read something...and it's getting worse! Last year it took me about 11 months to read DFW's Infinite Jest (which isn't that bad really) but more recently it's taken me about 5 months to read Bruce Lee's Tao of JKD (which is pretty bad because it's only 200 pages long).

Posted by: rysco on 3/16/10 at 7:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Rysco, way I see it is this: if it takes you that long to read a book, the book sucks. Or maybe it's good, but you're not loving it for whatever reason. Find a book that doesn't take you so long to read. When you find the right one, you'll plow right through it. I spent SO long reading House of Leaves before I figured out, "Wait a minute...I should be reading a different book!" So I gave up with like 50 pages to go. Best decision ever. Maybe hit up the bookstore this week and see if anything else grabs your eye.

Posted by: Rick Lax (Staff) on 3/16/10 at 11:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Discussion:

In an effort to increase the dialogue on our blogs, we will be requiring Facebook accounts to leave comments on lasvegasweekly.com blogs. We believe that Weekly readers are likely to have Facebook accounts already and more apt to comment on this site with that account rather than have to create an account with us. If, however, you do not have a Facebook account, click here to sign up for one. If you have questions, comments or concerns about this new commenting policy, please let us know.

For any other questions related to commenting on Weekly stories, please read our full policy.

Las Vegas Weekly Photostrip

View all photostrip photos

Facebook Activity

Featured Cocktail

Cocktail of the Week May 23, 2012
by Sabrina Chapman

Rhumbar’s Scorpion Bowl stings so good

Ready to celebrate the official start of summer? Prepare for takeoff. Memorial Day Weekend picks up speed with the addition of Rhumbar’s Scorpion Bowl ($49) to the weekend’s party lineup. ...
Read more...

SMS Alerts