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Friday, June 12, 2009

Books Reading Tonight

Posted by Paul Constant on Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 10:22 AM

There's only one reading tonight.

Elliott Bay Book Company hosts Seth Grahame-Smith, the author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Well, the author of about a third of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. The primary author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Jane Austen, is dead. It's a brilliant marketing idea, but this isn't a good book. I read about fifty pages and completely lost interest at the one joke being repeated over and over again. Then I passed the book on to Jonah Spangenthal-Lee. He read even less of it than I did. Even my non-Stranger employee zombie-loving friend, who has maybe read every zombie book in existence, stopped reading it for lack of interest. I think this is one of those "high-concept" books you buy for the premise, but then never actually read, like A Brief History of Time, only dumber.

The full readings calendar, including the next week or so, is here. And if you're planning on staying in and you're looking for personalized book recommendations, feel free to tell me the books you like and ask me what to read next over at Questionland.

Comments (11) RSS

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I AM SO SICK OF LOOKING AT THAT FUCKING BOOK COVER.

Posted by Lindy West on June 12, 2009 at 10:27 AM

I had high hopes, but I didn't make it past about 50 pages, either.

Posted by Patti on June 12, 2009 at 10:32 AM

Fuck. I just bought that book.

Turns out I'm a sucker.

Posted by Jocelyn

on June 12, 2009 at 10:38 AM

You're not alone, Jocelyn.

Posted by Grrr on June 12, 2009 at 10:56 AM

Dammit! Me too. I wonder if I still have my receipt.

Posted by thegeneral on June 12, 2009 at 11:12 AM

I couldn't get through much if it either and went back to my Zombie Survival Guide. My friend starting writing Little Women and Vampires as a joke, though, and hers is actually pretty clever.

Posted by Tori on June 12, 2009 at 12:33 PM

I bought it, too. I'm a sucker for anything zombie-themed, but P&P&Z just reminded me that you shouldn't fuck with perfection. Made it about 20 pages before I had to revert to the original. I'm sorry, Jane! I promise I won't cheat on you again.

Posted by Kalakalot on June 12, 2009 at 1:22 PM

I read it all and will save you your $7.95 by skipping to the end:

Elizabeth Barrett marries Mr. Darcy.

Posted by NapoleonXIV on June 12, 2009 at 1:47 PM

@8: Ooh, you were *so* close to making a cutting, witty remark. If only you'd gotten the name of the protagonist right.

Posted by Cate B

on June 12, 2009 at 2:27 PM