Saturday, December 30, 2006

Book comments: "You: On a Diet"

I stopped in the local corporate clone bookstore this afternoon and checked out this "You: On a Diet" book that's apparently a bestseller right now.

Conceptually, the diet itself looks like it could be worth trying. But the book itself is an absolute bitch to read--it's as if the people who designed it (and that word right there is a sure indicator that something is wrong--books should be written, not designed) were intentionally trying to insert as many annoying little distractions into it as they possibly could: semi-relevant (at best) little sidebars every couple of pages; entire pages devoted to what should have been in a footnote, or at least integrated more gracefully into the main text; lots of unpleasantly busy drawings and diagrams, possibly intended to clarify concepts, but which actually seemed to obfuscate whatever they purported to deal with; and, worst of all, these silly little "YOU-reka" interjections (complete with dumbassed cartoon-character-guy holding his fucking finger in the air), scattered throughout the text, as if I am too goddamned thick-skulled to notice simple, elegant boldface text or other more traditional means of emphasising key points.

I understand why they put all this shit in books these days. It's clearly aimed at the casual shelf-flipper, randomly browsing through a bookstore without any real intention of buying anything. To catch the attention of these people, they add all these visual bells and whistles to the books, shiny objects to attract the attention of the first monkey that happens along. As I was sitting there, I realized where I first saw this style of book design: in the "Dummies" books, and the "Complete Idiots" books. I also realized, as I was sitting there, that I have never actually managed to read one of those books all the way through. Never. I guess they're just too distracting to actually read, sort of like trying to concentrate while some dumbfuck waves a bright orange flag in your face and yells at you every thirty seconds.

Anyway, I managed to get through the first 45 pages of "You: On a Diet" before giving up in frustration (people yapping on their cellphones in a bookstore were also a factor, I admit). Somebody really ought to publish an alternate "readers edition." I'd buy it in a second.