When you murmur, very quietly, that it could possibly be a
good idea to `Go and read your nice book’ you may care to recall the story of the
book shop owners in Australia. One day the two owners received a manuscript ostensibly
prepared by a premier writer.
The pair duly invested in the book and started promoting and
selling it all over the country. Naturally the book enjoyed a viral readership.
There were even customers queuing outside the shop on weekends. The proprietors
felt that their fortunes were secure.
The tumult grew until a national newspaper took up an option
to serialise the book and the contents were discussed on cultural T.V. shows.
The vendors were grateful for their good fortune – but were sad that no film
rights were discussed.
Of course there was talk of a sequel. A nation-wide search ensued
to find the author. Some newspaper reporters were more attentive than others –
then one day there was a scoop. The book was written by two poets who strung
together meaningless words and phrases at random. The police seized all the unsold
copies and prosecuted the book shop owners for misleading the public. The poets
stuck to their anonymity – which was covered by the `Freedom of the Press’.
It may be a good idea to dip into a few of the pages of books
selected by bright ten year olds – with reading ages over fourteen. You may never know unless you look!
