December 30, 2003
Subtle, Very Subtle
I was in Half-Price Books the other day and, since I had enjoyed their previous political satirical works, decided to look for Al Franken's new book, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them or Molly Ivins latest work, Bushwhacked. Both Al and Molly are nationally-recognized liberal political commentators, so I looked in the political section but couldn't find them. I did, however, notice Rush Limbaugh's diatribes there.
Strangely enough, I later found both Al Franken and Molly Ivins' books in the comedy section, even though they are both largely the same tone and certainly as political as Limbaugh's books. I even saw Jim Hightower's books there, and he's a serious populist speaker, albeit with a down-home sense of humor.
I don't want to read too much into the choice of placement of books, but the obvious disparity in how liberal and conservative thought and commentary is treated is disturbing. Rush is taken seriously while Molly Ivins is a comedienne?
Posted by tat at December 30, 2003 06:58 PMIt's a lot like religion, too. If you want to look for things about Buddhism or Hinduism or mysticism, you have to look under philospophy. And if you go to Half-Priced books, even the Mysticism is under it's own heading, like it doesn't qualify as a philosophy. Even though they found out that Carlos Casteneda was making up his stories about Don Juan, it can still be considered a philosophy! Only Judeo-Christian stuff in the religion section. Only 30% of the world in Christian, get off your high horse!
Posted by: ToddDrevers at January 1, 2004 12:35 AMParanoid computer geeks unite!
I have a solution. Buy your books at Amazon.com.
Then you don't have to get all worked up about how they are organized in the store.
BTW Al Frankin is most famous for his roles on SNL. He is a comedic actor.
Posted by: Trickhorn at January 11, 2004 02:19 AMFranken and Ivins should be listed under "fiction".
Posted by: dhays at January 17, 2004 11:16 AM