No. 333: "In No Sense"
Thomas Nelson
Publishers, Nashville, Tenn., has announced the March release of a book with
the working title The Death of Innocence . Name the author and subject.
( Question courtesy of Jon Delfin.)
Send
your answer by noon ET Tuesday to [email protected] .
Friday's Question
(No. 332)--"Believe It or Else":
In a TV commercial debuting this week, the spokesperson says: "It made
people believe again, feel free again." Who's pitching what?
"Does
Cher really need to publicize that song anymore? It's a hit, a triumphant
comeback, we get it."-- Matt Sullivan
"The
New York Times : now with zero percent Abe Rosenthal!"-- Daniel
Radosh ( Tim Carvell had a similar answer.)
"At
last, they've published the Singer/Songwriters of the '70s Almost-Rhyming
Dictionary !"-- Jon Delfin
"Whatever it is, if that's James Earl Jones doing the voice-over, I'm
buying!"-- David Lofquist
"I
don't know all the answers, fella. But I do know that the guy ... the Taiwanese
guy ... the guy over there, in charge, in Taiwan ... his name is ... Lee. No
... Chang ... No, Lee... either Lee or Chang or Wong. Did I say Lee? I meant to
say Wong."-- Chris W. Kelly
Click
for more answers.
Randy's Wrap-Up
Many respondents conflated feeling free and feeling
fresh. The distinction between the two is apparent in Martin Luther King Jr.'s
eloquent and moving, "I Have a Dream" speech, which would have been much less
effective had he concluded, "Fresh at last, fresh at last, thank God almighty,
I'm fresh at last."
In American history, "feeling free" refers to
ridding the nation of an oppressive monarch, a view expressed in the
Declaration of Independence. In American advertising, "feeling fresh" refers to
ridding oneself of vaginal odor, a view expressed by a fashion model clad in
white who has plucked every hair from her body and then painted in some
artificial eyebrows and perhaps drawn a silhouette of Thomas Jefferson to
replace her pubic hair.
It's like aromatherapy
as political expression: "We have nothing to fear but … is there a funny smell
in here? Is it me?" That's the slogan Naomi Wolf was paid $15,000 a month to
provide Al Gore. Or was it "The Sweet Smell of No Sex!" Or the rule-of-three,
"Odorless, Colorless, Tasteless!" Or perhaps it was alpha-malevolent: "Now With
Real Beef Aroma." Somebody stop me. Was it "Scents and Fiscal Sensibility"?
Hang on. Do I smell smoke? Yes, it's me. I'm hot! And menstrual. Somebody turn
a hose on me!
Little Me
Answer
New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani is pitching
himself.
In a spot running only in upstate New York--the
mayor is particularly popular with those who've never lived where he
governs--he touts his economic policies. Just before he delivers his toothy
slogan, the narrator says: "Rudy Giuliani got to work, creating a record
341,000 new jobs. Cutting taxes over $2 billion. Leading people off welfare and
requiring those on it to work. Rudy has made New York the safest large city in
America."
What the narrator does
not say is that one fourth of all New Yorkers live below the poverty line, a
number that has not improved under this mayor, even after nine years of
economic expansion. But maybe that will be on the bumper stickers.
B&N Extra
Below, excerpts from a
Barnes & Nobel ad describing books whose authors will be appearing at
various New York City branches of the chain. Can you identify each book and
author?
Ad Copy
1. "insights on the power of music from a wide
swath of people ranging from Henry David Thoreau to Billy Joel"
2. "reams of astute and acerbic correspondence"
3. "a stirring look at a man unafraid to stir
things up"
4. "entertainment for your whole mouth"
5. "a tender look at childhood"
6. "a father-son bond involving a majestic
tree"
7. "a super rich gel
that will give you the most comfortable shave ever"
Answers
1. Spirit Into Sound , by Mickey Hart
2. Sincerely, Andy Rooney
3. Gore Vidal , by Fred Kaplan
4. Not actually a book; this is the tag line from a
pack of Pop Rocks which also includes the sub-head, "more action" neither of
which would be an entirely inaccurate blurb for the Vidal biography.
5. The Blue Spruce , by Mario Cuomo
6. That Cuomo book again. And I'm sure writing it
was much more rewarding than being president of the United States.
7. More father-son
bonding from Mario Cuomo? No. A tender passage from the back of a can of Edge
Pro Gel.
Common
Denominator
Fire down below.
