Reading Stereotypes

There's a book blog I like to read called The Best Little Bookshelf in Texas. Personality-wise the writer and I are maybe not the same, but we appear to share a lot in the way of reading tastes, and her writing makes me laugh. She did a post called "Readers by Author," in which she lists writers and describes the kind of person she imagines when someone says they love one of those authors. I'll just repeat her disclaimer here before I post some of my favorites:


"A caveat, I’m not so much serious about any of this… as I am extremely serious. But really, don’t be offended, because what do I know?" Ditto on that for me, because what does my opinion matter, right? And also because if you read the authors I make fun of, that doesn't mean I love you less.


Harper Lee: You could’ve been a reader, why did you lose steam?
Emily Dickinson: Girls who would go to Canada just for the Anne of Green Gables museum.
Dan Brown: People underexposed to books.
Sophie Kinsella: Women who will call themselves “girls” well into their forties.
Agatha Christie or any other mystery writer: Grandmas.


I haven't read these authors (except The Alchemist), but I have two Paulo Coelho books on my shelf that I've been meaning to read for a long time, and I laughed out loud when I read her description of people who like him. Also, I now suspect I should check out some Howard Zinn.


Paulo Coelho: People who sometimes contemplate one idea for an entire afternoon and then wake up and are like, “Wait, is Chipotle still open?”
Howard Zinn: People who can’t let a Thanksgiving go by without being like “You know, what we’re really celebrating is smallpox and genocide…”


And finally, these are all authors I love (or really like insofar as I've had experience with them). Some of the descriptions aren't right for me; I am terrible at keeping secrets and don't scour Wikiquote, but I think that's partially because I'd never thought of it. Also, I am neither anorexic nor vegetarian nor rich, but I think I have to be honest and admit to a certain level of self-righteousness (although I promise I actually do try to overcome my proclivity toward it). 


Kurt Vonnegut: People who look on Wikiquote a lot in search of something that really really defines them.

J.K. Rowling: Mostly Gryffindors. Some Ravenclaws, the occasional Slytherin. No Hufflepuffs.

Roald Dahl: People who don’t seem sentimental but are.

Madeleine L’Engle: Weird girls who are actually totally awesome.

Haruki Murakami: People who are good at keeping secrets.

Michael Pollan: Self-righteous anorexic vegetarians, or rich people who like doing things halfway.

Jonathan Safran Foer: Impressionable people who take all the outlets at coffee shops.

Philip Pullman: Not sure, but they’re all frustrated.

I think the Roald Dahl and Madeline L'Engle descriptions are my favorites--don't they seem so accurate?