Love and literature

I think I have mentioned before about this friend who uses books as chick magnets. He would chose a book carefully before going out for any meal (his books are all nicely wrapped in plastic so they don't get soiled by coffee, tea or gravy) and place it on one corner on the 'mamak' shop table in full view while he is having his meal. I have no idea what his success rate is but, at least according to a recent story, he has the right idea.

Rachael Donadio writes in The New York Times Sunday Book Review in a story called It's not you, it's your books that '... Some years ago, I was awakened early one morning by a phone call from a friend. She had just broken up with a boyfriend she still loved and was desperate to justify her decision. "Can you believe it!" she shouted into the phone. He hadn’t even heard of Pushkin!"'

In choosing a mate we have heard that the most important things are money, looks, chemistry and so on. But reading tastes?

"... this may be a gender issue,' Donadio says. 'Brainy women are probably more sensitive to literary deal breakers than are brainy men. (Rare is the guy who’d throw a pretty girl out of bed for revealing her imperfect taste in books.)'

Well, at least, that is clear. Supermodels need not worry. Guys are simply horny bastards.

Then she says: '... These days, thanks to social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace listing your favorite books and authors is a crucial, if risky, part of self-branding ... Naming a favorite book or author can be fraught. Go too low, and you risk looking dumb. Go too high, and you risk looking like a bore -- or a phony.'

So be careful there, all those of you trying to impress, or to be cute. Life is very complicated.

New York Times