Enough is Enough!
I did the book signing thing (for my book, Chat Rooms in Wonderland) last Saturday afternoon at one of the local Barnes and Noble stores. While the store manager was setting up my table and other such trappings, I noticed a much larger display table that was stacked high with copies of The Da Vinci Code. As you already know, The Da Vinci Code is one of the best selling books in recent history despite being, from a technical point of view, a very good example of atrocious writing. Dale Brown’s book has even been made into a movie starring Tom Hanks. This will allow the illiterate to experience the half-baked plot line, and even worse dialog, that the rest of us have been forced to endure.
But the biggest insult to the book buying public now comes from the inevitable “copycat” books that are attempting to cash in on the public’s new fascination with anything relating to the Knights Templar, Holy Grail, Priory of Sion, secret codes and other such tripe that normally sane people are now accepting as no less than he Gospel Truth.
– –
As an example of how far this thing has gotten out of hand, consider this news item from a few months back:
ROME (Reuters) – The Vatican stepped up its offensive against The Da Vinci Code on Friday when a top official close to Pope Benedict blasted the book as full of anti-Christian lies and urged Catholics to boycott the film.
The above “suggestion” came from Archbishop Angelo Amato, the number two official in the Vatican doctrinal office which was headed by Pope Benedict until his election last year. I’m glad it was only an archbishop that came to this course of action because, had he been a cardinal, it would certainly have caused me to doubt the collective IQ of the people that elected Benedict to the job.
– –
Getting back to the more example of the public’s fascination with Da Vinci and his alleged code, I saw a book with the title (and I’m not making this up) The Da Vinci CodeDiet! What are you supposed to eat on this diet, bar-b-cued Knight Templar? Maybe roast a few heretics for the next Tupperware party?
The cookbook was the final straw. I’m going to write something along the line of Nostradamus and the Da Vinci Code Reveal the Secrets of the Freemasons, Project Blue Book, and the Warren Commission. Given what the public is willing to believe and to pay for, this one should be a real blockbuster.
