Posted on 05/19/2007 7:17:01 AM PDT by fgoodwin
First, there was the question of the title: "The Dangerous Book for Boys." HarperCollins Publishers' Chief Executive Jane Friedman just didn't understand what it meant. Sure, the book had been a hit in England and Australia, but that didn't mean it would work in the U.S.
But the sales staff urged her to stick with it, and in just two weeks, "Dangerous" has become the breakout hit of the season. The News Corp. unit initially ordered up 91,000 copies. There are now 405,000 copies in print. One senior HarperCollins executive, extrapolating from overseas sales and population data, projects that "Dangerous," which lists for $24.95, could sell as many as four million in the U.S.
The unapologetic message is that boys need a certain amount of danger and risk in their lives, and that there are certain lessons that need to be passed down from father to son, man to man. The implication is that in contemporary society basic rules of maleness aren't being handed off as they used to be.
The gender-exclusive nature of "Dangerous" bothers some women. In a posting on the livejournal.com Web site, one woman, addressing the book and boys in general, wrote: "Here's a tip, kiddies: maybe the girls want to have the same kind of fun you do, instead of sitting around the house and learning how to be a servant." (Matthew Benjamin, a senior editor at the Collins imprint, which published the book, says, "There hasn't been any organized protest.")
HarperCollins says it doesn't have any immediate plans to publish a girl's version. HarperCollins's Ms. Friedman, who has two sons and two stepsons, explains: "Boys are very different."
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
That’s what I’m saying!
I’ll have to pick that one up.
I don’t know why people always have to find fault with someone else’s book when they don’t have to read it.
Afterall...there’s been more books,shows, and movies featuring girls and women facing adventure and danger too.
Shows like Alias were very popular with the girlies.
In the end you’ve got both males and females who are bored with the Ithaca approach to life.
You might enjoy Kim du Toit’s essay - http://www.theothersideofkim.com/index.php/essays/41/
That was excellent! Good post.
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