So, I must admit, after reading Judy Blume’s Forever and after watching the classic 90s hit Little Giants, I’m feeling a little nostalgic. Our class discussion last week sparked a lot new “threads” in the complex machine world of my mind. Our main focus, though sometimes spiraling out of control, was focused around the question, “to whom is Chick Lit trying to sell?” You see, we decided that one of the scary and definitely unfortunate differences between today’s Chick Lit and the Chick Lit of yesteryear (or rather during its infant stages in the 70s and early 80s) is that now Chick Lit has become just another way to rake in the dolla dolla bills, ya’ll. As is the whole publishing industry. Ouch!
We discussed the fact that now, when a writer wants to publish his or her work, the first question begged is not “who will read your book?” but instead “who will buy this?” So what we’re saying is that book buying is not about consumption in terms of the book’s material, but instead about a book’s sheer purchase power.
That is to say, the difference between books like Blume’s and those of the last (half?) decade is content. To me, Forever was written to communicate a message. It’s content poses those questions that, at the time, were continuously being swept under the door mat. Questions about love and sex, and teenagers making their own, adult choices in such terms. Chick Lit today, as my class discussed, seems much more about name dropping – chic restaurants, stores, celebs etc. – in order to catch the eye of anyone who might be willing to spend the fifteen dollars for the book, thirty for the hard copy.
Take a look at this article to read more about Forever, and what its purpose was, in the words of its author.
http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/childrenandteens/story/0,,1500565,00.html#article_continue
