From Cover to Cover: Decatur Book Festival To Shock Book World with Snooki Keynote
Decatur Metro | April 1, 2011
First on DM: Always out to challenge and entertain the more bookish among us, I received word last night that the Decatur Book Festival’s keynote speaker this year will be none other than The Jersey Shore’s “Snooki”, who – in case you missed it – actually released her first book, “A Shore Thing“, late last year.
Personally, I had trouble believing it. Both that Snooki had a book out and that the DBF was willing to go quite this far in pushing the envelope.
Though the source of this info was very reliable, I certainly needed confirmation from the DBF itself. So I sent an email off to both DBF Executive Director Daren Wang and Program Director Terra Elan McVoy. Their almost immediate replies seemed to signal their anxious excitement for this announcement. Wang was first….
“Over the years, a central tenant of the festival has been to not take itself too seriously. Last year, we launched the tour for one of the most acclaimed authors of his generation, Jonathan Franzen, fresh off the cover of Time Magazine. We thought we’d go in a new direction, go for something more lighthearted and fun. And from what I’ve heard, there’s no one more fun than Snooki, fresh off the cover of Rolling Stone. A Shore Thing is a great read: a taut, genre and gender-bending page-turner.”
Gender-bending? Hmm…alrighty. And then McVoy…
“In all honesty, I thought Lady Gaga would be ideal for our keynote this year, but since she hasn’t got a book out (yet), Snooki makes a fine fit.”
Should we expect a Lady Gaga keynote in the years to come? I’m not sure she’d stoop to a southern-city-suburb festival level, but hey, everyone wants people to think they’re smart and what works better in casual cocktail conversation than mentioning your upcoming keynote at a book festival? RIght? I’m mean look at James Franco. When does that guy sleep?
I gotta wonder what Bookzilla thinks about all this. So far, I have not been able to reach him for comment.
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this is an april fools joke, right? please.
Well done on 4/1!
<3
HAHAHAHA! very funny….
Did you steal this idea from Rutgers, where apparently, it’s NOT an April Fool’s joke? Kudos to you DM. Very very creative. Can the folks at DBF weigh in some more?
Let me just say we got a much better deal than Rutgers.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/01/snooki-rutgers_n_843448.html
The giveaway was “central tenant.” Darren Wang’s command of language is light years beyond that.
You give me too much credit. I really wrote that.
What? Your tenets aren’t paying rent?
No, my inner copy editor isn’t paying attention.
Wow –now I will make sure to attend this year. Finally a literary figure I can relate to. Won’t miss it.
She’ll be on a panel with Jonathan Franzen: “Freedom and the Jersey Shore.”
ba ha ha ha
Dang. I was really hoping to get to the comments and find some righteous indignation. Everyone must be on their meds today.
Who’s Snooki?
Heh! Hearted, Chadly.
I know some might disagree, but I really, really hope that this is not an April Fool’s Joke. The Book Festival would hugely benefit by having someone known, interesting, and controversial speaking. I have been to the Book Festival every year since it started. And, every year, I think that it has become less and less interesting. The speakers for adult lit have become much too obscure and the festival has shifted to be too oriented toward kid lit. The organizers are not paying attention to the childless 18-35 year old demographic.
I totally agree with “known, interesting, and controversial” – but i don’t think Snooki fits that description at all (even a little bit). Jonathan Franzen – yes. Snooki – no.
Who’s Jonathan Franzen?
LOL! Hearted II.
How ’bout Katy Perry?
OK, so this gets at my point exactly.
If you asked any 18-35 year old if they wanted to hear Snooki speak, I bet 90% of them would say yes (not as a role model- just as someone entertaining to listen to). On the other hand, I have no idea who Jonathan Franzen is. I wiki’d him to see what he had written- I am a voracious reader and I had never even heard of his books. That’s the problem- lots of authors that no one has heard of.
*I bet 0.9% of them would say yes
I fixed your post…
Just so it’s official: April Fools boys and girls.
You had me for about five seconds there. LOL!
Yes, April Fools. And Serious Comment, we’ll take you post to heart, but Snookie as keynote would not be the answer. I would welcome her elsewhere at the festival, though.
Where? Like the wet book festival t-shirt contest in front of the pina colada machine at the Brick Store?
I am thinking Daren must have some chucks with her flashy pic to showcase this year!
Er, Franco sleeping? Poor fella looked like he was snoozing through the Oscars.
But he gave a terrific interview on Letterman the other night!
Meaning, he was a great sport about it when Letterman talked about his own Oscar hosting fiasco — and encouraged James to shake it off.
I do agree also that DBF should try to bring in some celebrity authors. Not necessarily as the keynote speaker. This was tried before with Ty Pennington but it fell through. But recently Laura Bush was here and would definitely pull in a crowd. Though not my speed, Susan Lucci just came out with her biography. I would suggest Pam Grier. I saw her at Comic Con last December. She’s a wonderful speaker with great anecdotes about her 30+ years in Hollywood.