So. You already know what she looks like, right? Sarah Michelle Gellar only tinier, if possible, and actually, much prettier. A husky voice. Very Sex & the City with the outfit to match. Crisp white capris with a fabulous chiffony top that showed off her perfect tan and expertly muscled arms. Sexy sandals to die for. She would be a vapid lovely if not for, you know, that law degree from the University of Virginia. Yes, that's right, she's an attorney. A smart one. One that realized early on she hated being a lawyer and knew she had to plot her way out. Hence, the writing. Hence, the books. Hence the very business-savvy-ness that radiates from her. A rarity, as many writers either don't understand the business aspect of book selling or resent it or both. She embraces it.
I knew she had a law degree before I got to Vromann's. I knew I was not dealing with a fluffy kind of girl. And yet. And yet. I could not reconcile this smart woman with these matchy matchy book covers that seemed fluffy in the extreme (mere marketing or was there something more sinister at work?). As she approached the lectern, I was eager to see how events would unfold. I wanted to be surprised, proven wrong, made a fool of...anything that would give me hope that all these "i can't wait to be marrieds" in the audience were at least reading books that improved their minds, made them think, inspired bigger dreams, different options. All the things that a good book can do. Or, as I cynically feared, would this be another fluffy book about finding the man of your dreams (because who are we with out that?) and living the happily ever after life that is marketed to women in a thousand different ways each day?
Giffin waited until the room was quiet and jumped right in. Not into her new book, Baby Proof (which one would expect at a reading), but into a speech about how she approached the writing of this book, how she came up with the storyline and what inspired her to write it. Baby Proof is about a married couple, soul mates who were pleased to find early on in their dating that neither of them wanted children. Several years into their marriage, the man changes his mind. He wants a child. Desperately. His wife does not. Giffin's book chronicles their struggles and attempts to wrestle with the criticism such women face...particularly in our society of Mommy Wars and the ongoing debate about women who want to have it all: the husband, the career, the children and a fabulous social life to boot.
As Giffin put it (quite well), "there's this huge debate about Mommy Wars and women who want to have it all vs. those who feel they need to stay at home with their kids, but no one is talking about this group of women in society who choose not to have children. In fact, those women are often looked upon as if something must be physically wrong with them. No one wants to believe a woman would choose not to have children and when people do realize that a woman has made that choice, she is ostracized. Thought of as unloving, uncaring, cold. Why is that? Why is it that no one is applauding those women for not having a child if they know themselves to be unwilling to provide all the attention a child needs?" In short, she outlined the problem thus: Why aren't these women viewed as child-free instead of child-less?
I know. Smarter than you expected, right? A better subject matter than you were prepared for, right? I was flummoxed...but oh so pleasantly. Certainly not of the "go out and find yourself a mate asap" variety. And certainly not worthy of the fluffy cover. Or, for that matter, not worthy of an audience that talked non-stop about getting married as if it was the most important thing one could strive for. Do I now need to read the book to see if I agree with how she handles it? Of course. Am I still irked, irked, irked that a book has been packaged in the same way so many other books have been packaged to appeal to an audience that seemingly cares only about shoes and dating and marriage and babies? Absolutely. But is there something else at work here? This book being marketed to husband-seekers might have the opposite effect -- showing husband-seekers there is a different way. Too optimistic? Remains to be seen. I am halfway through her first book and will report back on all as I make my way to Baby Proof.
It worked on me though. This marketing hype. I saw these books and sensed immediately what they might be about. For me, these covers signaled predictable drivel about finding a man to make your life better. Why? Because so many other books that look like this do peddle that message and it makes me very angry. Is that the hallmark of a well-executed marketing campaign? Possibly. Is this a rather ironic way to learn the true meaning of the "don't judge a book by it's cover" adage? Indeed. Am I rash and prone to verbal gymnastics before I really know what I'm talking about (S?) -- sometimes, yes. But my anger was not fabricated and my confusion -- on many levels -- remains. Why are these books being marketed this way? Judging from the audience at Giffin's reading, the books are making their way into the hands of the women who expected to read exactly what I expected to read. We were both surprised. Bravo for Giffin & props the marketing guru who came up with the matchy matchiness, but I'm not sure where that leaves us. Or the writers.
This is it good/is it bad/does it matter/and if so how thinking reminds me of the current debate about the This is NOT Chick Lit/This IS Chick lit deuling anthologies. Excellent insights and healthy debates can be found at Ed's & Megan's. I have more to say on this point as well and once I've finished reading Giffin's work, I'll be better able to comment on exactly how she is/is not different from the expectations (my?) of this genre.
Just as I began to settle in and get ready to hear her read, Giffin stopped talking, looked out at the audience and asked if there were any questions. What? No reading? Huh? The audience didn't skip a beat. It seemed no one knew that at a reading there is meant to be, you know, reading. No matter. Hands enthusiastically shot up in the air. And so we had arrived at the best part of any reading: the Q&A. The moment when the night just gets better or careens off a cliff...
