Gosh, no wonder there's no room in the store for OUR books

"Visit your neighborhood superstore, and you will be overwhelmed with ephemera: self-aggrandizing memoirs by recovering addicts; poignant portraits of heroic pets; hyperbolic ideological tracts by insufferable cable TV pundits; guides to staying wrinkle- and toxin-free; odes to Warren Buffett and Jesus Christ; manifestos for fixing America in 12 easy steps; manly accounts of the best athlete/season/team ever; and glittery novels about British royalty, love-starved shoppers, mournful cops and ingenious serial killers. (There are more novels about serial killers than there are actual serial killers.)"

--Jonthan Karp in Turning the Page on the Disposable Book, The Washington Post, June 29

And then there's the novel written by a ghost for the latest heart throb to make the number one spot in the charts in which he reveals how hard his middle class upbringing was, lets all shed a tear. Yes I'm being nasty I know but why go on about how hard you've had it, after all there isn't anyone alive who hasn't seen some kind of tragedy at some piont, most of us just have to get on with it. After all that's what life is all about

The bizarre, tragedy, the supernatural and evil are big sellers.
Hidden desires can be fantasized in erotic romance.
I guess there is something for everyone. Whatever turns ones crank.

Seeds could lie dormant for many years on the desert sands, thrown around by scurrying winds across the dunes. Then one day, a sudden clap of thunder followed by a torrential downpour, and they spring back to life. A seedling starts to flourish and within a few weeks lo and behold the first flower has bloomed.

So do books; gathering dust for years on end in some dark library vault somewhere, or on a book shelf hidden away in somebody’s upstairs attic room that is seldom visited. Then one rainy day, when someone is feeling utterly bored and looking for something to kill time with, they pick up the book and blow off the cobwebs from its front cover. A quick peek inside… and the seed germination process has begun.

Perhaps the author who wrote that book has since long abandoned his/her most cherished dreams of a literary career, and is now working in a quiet back street car wash in some ghettoised suburbs of a small city somewhere in the world. Perhaps he/she had perished a few generations earlier and the grave is presently shaded by a gracefully flowering magnolia tree swaying in the breeze. Or perhaps the author is the one who happens upon a copy of his/her own book and is pleasantly surprised by their own writings that now seem to belong to some other person who was pre-occupied by distant and strange thoughts that are now difficult to relate back to.

Whatever the competition for shelf space in book stores, books are worth writing .

well put!

Yeah, that sounds nice but I just enjoy writing and don't ever expect literary fame though I wouldn't turn it down if it came but one must keep ones feet on the ground and save the dreams for my stories or nightmares for that matter. If there is one thing I've learned in my life that is seldom do good things happen, when they do it usually means the s#?t is just about to fall from the sky. (I must admit it's good for the garden though hehehe ) What am I trying to say give up your dreams, NO by all means have them cherish them but mine have long since faded leaving scepticism behind. The longer you keep yours alive the better so keep dreaming because for some it does come true and I hope it does for you.

Hairy mob,
I like your avatar, it makes me smile and that is sooo very important to me nowadays above other things.

Dreams, passions and obsessions, whether they be for painting, cooking, writing, cricket, soccer or baseball... are what keeps us all ticking. Some people even believe being passionate about something is what makes us get out of bed every morning and with the eagerness and anticipation of passing milestone after milestone in this obsession... we can actually live longer! (Mind over matter).

Very true, Ahad. They think having purpose is what keeps is struggling to rise every day when we get older.

In fact, that is often why women outlive their men. They maintain the purpose of nurturing right up to the end. And some men seem to give up as soon as they retire, feeling no sense of purpose, it is assumed.

To seek the validity of that, one only needs visit a Senior center and count the ratio of men to women. However, I would think that male authors are an excellent exception! They still have much to write about!!

excellent observations Ahad.
Zada, I'm curious about that ration you mention. Is it dominated by women or men?

By women, Abe. I can't remember the figures (I'll try to locate them) but women outlive men by a few years, and therefore, there are more elderly women than men. At my last visit to my local Senior center, there was a room full of women and only a handful of men.

We talk them to death.

Abe, US Census shows for 2006:

Ages 65 - 74: men: 8670 women: 1024

ages 75 - 84: men: 5298 women: 7748

ages 85 - + men: 1688 women: 3609

Looking at the tables, it seems to have improved for men, probably due to better medicine and more men learning to slow down a little and enjoy life more.

You can view the pdf file here:
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/age/general-age.html#older

Shelagh wrote:

We talk them to death.

No, Shelagh, I think it is because we have to stay behind and clean up the mess!!

(That's a joke, gentlemen! I know most men these days help out a LOT!)

Zada,
Based on the first two categories, it appears that many of these women must have come back to life after the men died. And then in the third category, the men put many of the women away for their own survival.

Did I misread this?

A roomful of women and only a few men. Lucky dogs!

Leave it to you, Dick!

Abe F. March wrote:

Zada,
Based on the first two categories, it appears that many of these women must have come back to life after the men died. And then in the third category, the men put many of the women away for their own survival.

Did I misread this?

Sorry Abe. There should have been another zero after the one in the first age group for the women.

Zada, you're not suggesting that we should add a zero for women, are you?
You must keep in mind that a five-star person cannot escape unchallenged.

Abe you are a riot!

Zada and Abe,

The plot thickens, but I'm still reading, wondering how you guys are going to tie this in to the subject of the thread?

It's going to be a surprise ending, right?


Malcolm

Sorry Malcom,
I suppose going with the flow can lead us into the wrong lake. Or have we reached the ocean?

Keep swimming.

Naah, it's quality stuff. I figured sooner or later, somebody--possibly me--would say, gosh, this would make a good subject for a bestselling book.

Malcolm