Monday, February 11, 2008
Author bios
I think I'm noticing a trend. It seems that several books I've read lately have an author biography on the back inside cover that includes a list of that author's previous jobs, heavy on the quirkiness. For instance, Rosemary Clement-Moore, author of Prom Dates from Hell, specifies that she has a master's degree but also an eclectic resume: "telephone operator, Chuck E. Cheese costumed character, ranch hand, teacher, actress, stage-hand, director, playwright." Is this inspirational - yes, though you have a series of dead-end jobs, you too may become an author - or just too cutesy for words?
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2 comments:
I'm always curious about the strange jobs people have held before or while they've found their vocation (my own checkered retail past, for instance). So, I don't mind the cutesy lists much . . . though I'm waiting for someone to write, "I've been an actuary and well . . . an actuary."
Clearly we are fascinated with what writer, actors, and other celebs have done BEFORE. For example, I love the way they keep describing Diablo Cody (writer of Juno) as stripper turned writer (even though she was writing for City Pages when she worked as a stripper).
Of course, this blurb by Rudolph Delson from the end of Maynard & Jennica cracked me up:
"And speaking of promises: the dust jacket says that a few more details about me appear on this page. I was born in San Jose, California, in 1975, and I attended its public schools, where I got mostly good grades. I had bright red hair as a child and liked apple juice, nature programs, and hiding. My mother was a sculptor, my father was an engineer, and my sister shared her caramels with me when my allowance ran out and I couldn't buy myself candy, which was good of her. At my bar mitzvah, I impressed everybody with my singing of the haftorah" (p. 299)
It goes on, but you see what I mean.
Now, *that's* a bio!!
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