Week 7 Prompt Response
In my opinion, I think celebrity book clubs are a great intervention for authors and libraries. Reese Witherspoon is excelling at highlighting women’s authors and Emma Roberts is highlighting independent bookstores and female authors. While both of their bookclubs are also TV/video production companies, they are paving the way for female authors to get the recognition and publicity they deserve ( Nichols, 2019). There has obviously been a pattern of male authors abusing their status and using it to pressure women. From Sherman Alexie to Juniot Diaz being accused of sexual harassment and more, it is wonderful to see women with influence supporting and helping raise other women into positions o influence (Underwood, 2018). Through the influence of celebrity bookclubs, a library can adjust their collection development to include these authors and help highlight the titles these authors are creating.
Not all authors highlighted by these celebrities are without controversies of their own. Delia Owens is an author that had her book, Where the Crawdads Sing, put under scrutiny for an event from her past. Her stepson has been accused of murdering a poacher in Zambia while they were there as a family working as conservationists (Gutterman, 2022). This book was a runaway success when it was featured on Reese Witherspoon’s bookclub, and even had a film adaptation. I remember when the controversy was fresh and people were returning their books and boycotting the movie. TikTok had a huge impact on the controversy, and was actually how I initially learned about it. Even with this example, I feel that celebrity book clubs are beneficial for authors and libraries because it allows readers and library collections to expand and diversify.
References
Nichols, M. (2019). How the new celebrity book clubs are boosting literary sales. Variety. https://variety.com/2019/biz/news/reese-witherspoon-celebrity-book-clubs-little-fires-everywhere-1203279897/
Underwood, A. (2018). The #MeToo movement hit the Literary World Hard This Week. it’s not the first time.Vox. https://www.vox.com/2018/5/10/17323642/metoo-junot-diaz-allegations-nobel-literature-prize
Gutterman, A. (2022). What to Know About the Controversy Surrounding Where the Crawdads Sing. TIME. https://time.com/6196505/where-the-crawdads-sing-controversy-delia-owens-book/
Team, C. (2023). We suggest: Celebrity book club round-up, August 2021. Oak Park Public Library. https://www.oppl.org/news-events/authors-books/we-suggest-celebrity-book-club-round-up-august-2021/
I like all of your points here, and I'd agree that, as far as I can tell, celebrity book clubs do a lot of good in promoting diverse writers and stories. I wonder, though, if there is potential for the opposite. A celebrity who is revered but avoids promoting books from a certain marginalized community could actually do a lot of damage. It seems unlikely that this would happen, but you never know these days. So, while I agree that celebrity book clubs are generally a force for good, I also wonder if they might give too much power to the individuals making the choices.
ReplyDeleteI agree that celebrity book clubs are super beneficial for books, I believe that there are quite the limitations when it comes to the books chosen for these book clubs. Although that is not always the case, I would hazard a guess that many would choose books that they are interested in reading, while so many other books may not been seen due to limitations in each book club. I do hope that with more out there then there used to be, it will certainly increase the book types that get picked up.
ReplyDeleteFantastic response! I was shocked when I learned about Delia Owens past - especially with the ending of her book!
ReplyDeleteI also did my special topic paper on celebrity book clubs. What I discovered is most public libraries promote their books. You sometimes see self absorbed celebrities who only care about themselves. At least Reece, Oprah, Jenna, and Emma are using their celebrity status to promote reading. I watched a YouTube video where Emma Watson would leave copies of her book picks on the New York Subways for people to have. She is a sweetheart.
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