The Past is a Different Country; the Borders are Closer Than You Think

Spurred by a discussion with Brenda Clough, I've got a post up on the Book View Cafe blog today about the difficulties of writing about the past, particularly the recent past, for readers from now, with special attention to the "everybody knows..." problem.

Drop by and add your two cents, why dontcha?

A Poll of Sorts

Okay, in the process of tracking down What Must Be Tracked Down, Miss Tolerance meets up with a Famous Historical Person. I'm not sure whether to identify FHP for the readers who won't get it from the clues, or just assume everyone reading the book will get it, chuckle, and move on.

Subtlety or explanation. Anyone?

ETA Okay, then. Subtlety it is. There's a thematic reason why this Historical Person shows up, but it's not required by the plot that she be who she is. Well, maybe a little required by the plot, but only a little...

This Strikes Me as Bizarre

I've been thinking that, for the sake of my wretched posture, I should really download audiobooks to my iPod and listen as I walk, rather than walk along reading. At AudioBooks.com, the first books listed on their home page are:

• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• Twilight
• Burnt Offerings (Anita Blake Book 7)
• The Giver
• Venus in Furs
• Four Play
• The Lovely Bones
• Lord of the Flies
• Decision Points (GW Bush's memoir)
• The Hunger Games

Okay, mostly unexceptional, if not so much to my taste. But I find it really interesting that dead center in the top ten are Leopold von Sacher-Masoch and a book about a young woman involved in a foursome (three men--someone's idea of a good time).

Further perusal suggests that sex is a big seller in audio books. Well, yes, MP3 players do leave your hands free.

I note that the entire Twilight saga is free, as is the book about the foursome, and the Qu'ran. And that there are at least three different versions of Decision Points, one read by Bush himself.

Maybe I need to rethink this plan.