Lattice of Coincidence: where is LoC's $300K book deal?

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

where is LoC's $300K book deal?

Stuff White People Like? Making money by selling fluff would have to be at the top of the list.

6 comments:

Smiff said...: Of course, our book would be, "Stuff We Don't Like." It would be a very, very long book.; April 16, 2008 at 1:45 PM
k-mad said...: sonsabitches. i thought that was public. i'll fix their ass tomorrow.; April 16, 2008 at 7:26 PM
Sarge said...: I just don't get it - I was told it was funny.

But apparently the whole point is that white people are kind of middle of the road and obtuse.

If we want to get into stuff white people like, I would investigate cell phone holsters.

Those also go into our tome - things we don't like.

Stuff white people like, sadly, we only like them for like five minutes...; April 16, 2008 at 9:09 PM
k-mad said...: What do the Sunday New York Times, Barack Obama, knowing what's best for poor people, having gay friends, and arts degrees have in common? According to Christian Lander, they are all "stuff white people like." A mere three months ago, the 29-year-old Internet copywriter started a blog by that name with a post satirizing white people's affinity for coffee, noting that they are fond of sayings like, "You do NOT want to see me before I get my morning coffee" and are happy to pay a premium for fair-trade coffee because "the extra $2 means they are making a difference."

That item struck a nerve. Stuff White People Like averages around 300,000 hits a day, and its numbered catalog of the cultural, political, and social predilections of highly educated, middle-class, liberal, white people is nearing 100 items. At the end of March, Random House announced that it had signed Lander, who is himself white, to a book deal widely reported to be worth around $300,000.

The blog's emergence as a cultural phenomenon has triggered a wide-ranging discussion about race, humor, and whether Stuff White People Like is a trenchant critique of white cultural mores — or a backhanded celebration of white cultural superiority.

Dis next dude is just wallowing in how white he is:

Dean Rader, associate professor of English, University of San Francisco: One more reason SWPL has resonated is due to its very smart awareness of what I call "Overculture," which is the subject of my next book. Stuff White People Like is fantastic at mapping the icons of Overculture — those popular texts that indicate a ubiquity in American consumer and popular culture. For example, Starbucks plays music heard on The Wire, which gets written about in Slate, which has an agreement with NPR, which reviews books available in Borders, which sells coffee and expensive sandwiches. Overculture is a new kind of cultural map that circumscribes everything that has hit a tipping point, everything educated people should either consume or be aware of. (The Weekly Rader)

This just in... Wrigley Field is for white folks...

Adam Sternbergh, editor at large, New York: Even as an admitted yoga-practicing, public-radio-listening, Wrigley Field-visiting, Wes Anderson-movie-watching, Arrested Development-championing white dude — i.e., someone squarely in the targets of Stuff White People Like — I don't feel even mildly chastened about yoga, NPR, Wes Anderson, or Arrested Development after reading this blog. In fact, all the site's entries, while superficially chiding, can actually be divided into three very comforting categories:

1) Entries that don't reflect your lifestyle choices … and therefore make you feel superior.

2) Entries that do reflect your lifestyle choices … and therefore make you feel like you're in on the joke.

3) Entries that nod to commonly held comic stereotypes … and therefore, because you recognize them, make you feel superior. (The New Republic Online)

David Mills, screenwriter: The No. 1 biggest thing white people like is pretending to poke fun at themselves. … Here are a few things that white people don't like:

1. Black bosses.
2. Mexicans.
3. Being told they're wrong.
4. Panhandlers.
5. Black people on magazine covers.
6. Islam. (Undercover Black Man)

Megan McArdle, associate editor, The Atlantic: All right, let me add myself to the list of white people who don't like Stuff White People Like. Leave aside the arrogance of declaring "white people" to be equal to a rather small group of self-satisfied, overeducated, affluent poverty vultures. And I actively applaud its purpose — my demographic is a rich vein of humor. One that should be strip mined.

Unfortunately, SWPL just isn't very funny. How can you take a target as rich and inviting as people who deliberately buy ugly shoes and produce … a dull thud? (Asymmetrical Information, The Atlantic Online); April 17, 2008 at 8:57 AM
Fungster said...: Wait, wasn't one of the items that white people liked book deals? And now the white guy has 1? As Alanis Morissette said, Isn't it ironic, don't you think? It's like raiiaaain.....

I wonder when dis blog is going to get the same kind of analytical treatment as dat blog. It seems, that as da hottest blog on da internets, that we deserve it...

Annudder thing white people like - overanalyzing to death every single bit of minutiae. See: baseball. All sports really. Dis election campaign. Among udders.; April 17, 2008 at 10:30 AM
k-mad said...: "Annudder thing white people like - overanalyzing to death every single bit of minutiae. See: baseball. All sports really. Dis election campaign."

That's a perfect example of what I call "Overculture," which I'll be discussing in my next book.; April 17, 2008 at 11:35 AM