No matter - People often ask me what makes a good book.? Generally my reply is paper. (Take note you indie idiots). Joking aside, it runs deeper than that. In my eyes it doesn`t matter if a book is good or bad as long as I can sell it. Taste is notoriously subjective. After all, we are dealing with art and how can we quantify an abstract concept.
Numbers! Well that`s a different ball game. I don`t care what people do after they`ve bought one of my publications. You can use it to prop up a wobbly table, balance it on your head for posture exercises or use it as kindling for your Aga. It`s my belief 60% of books are never completely read so why do we choose them in the first place?
This runs deeper into the realms of peer pressure and intellectual snobbery. Do we want to be entertained or is it a game of literary point scoring. Cerebral jugglers who are terrified about missing out on some kind of intellectual advantage. Will anybody at Cambridge University be doing a thesis on The Hunger Games? Whereas the likes of Beryl Bainbridge and Hilary Mantel automatically get literary acclaim. But 90% of their readers have not got a clue what they`re on about. They simply buy it in order to spuriously prop up their intellectual inadequacy.
I`m proud to deal with trash. It keeps Tarquin in a job and pays my mortgage. Do you really think kids are going to spend their grovelled after pocket money on Chaucer? Of course not.
So you highbrows, drop down a step or two and learn how to enjoy yourselves.
"Tarquin, why are the pages of this magazine stuck together?"
Bye for now.