As I announced in my previous column, I'm on a one-woman crusade to see everyone on this campus with a book in their hands. Be it ""Crime and Punishment"" or a princess coloring book that you bought at Walgreen's and color in during class instead of listening to the English 100 professor (you know who you are).
Well as you probably didn't know, the university obviously saw my little column and decided to run with it. They created this whole program, Go Big Read. Somehow anticipating my thought process they have been working on promoting it for months, maybe you've seen the posters lying around in Helen C.? Seriously, they're right next to the computers you were using to stalk celebrities instead of researching the nutri-sci reading you haven't done. They picture what I know is every literate undergrad's dream of reading a book with Bucky on Bascom. All that's missing is a beer pyramid.
Unfortunately the university and I seem to have gotten our signals crossed. Twisting a magnificent idea of mine, they are promoting an ""academically focused reading experience."" To which I say, ""Knock it off!""
""What!"" You say in a horrified voice. Our literature columnist isn't for reading? The world must be ending. It's like ""The Day After Tomorrow"" and ""Invasion of the Body Snatchers"" rolled into one.
No worries my young padawans. What I'm actually looking for from this campus is un-academic, un-focused reading, and none of this ""experience"" stuff. Enough academically based reading is going around for any one who isn't a literature major to happily crawl into the black hole of (gasp) science or even worse... math. I know it's a tough pill to swallow, but my solution (drum roll please) is to read for fun.
Now I know what you're thinking. Something along the lines of, ""Who has time for stuff like that? I got to practice for Thirsty Thursday."" Probably with more vulgarity added in.
My simple solution is to a) choose something super easy to read (pictures allowed) or b) pick a movie you think you'd like and read the book instead. Seriously, practically every movie you didn't go see this year is actually a book too. Remember ""Angels and Demons?"" Dan Brown's book is actually perfect for those of you to whom the thought of looking at Tom Hanks for another two hours of your life is nauseating and need something word wise you can't put down. Alternately as a vicarious high for all you coasties put on a budget, Sophie Kinsella's ""Confessions of a Shopaholic"" is not just a movie with that crazy chick from ""Wedding Crashers."" Even that superhero flick ""Watchmen"" is a book, with pictures no less, so that should cover even the functionally illiterate readers (read: majors in the sciences) of my column as well.
Now I have covered both the university's mistakes and (yet again) suggested great books for those pesky picky readers. No need to stop me on the street to thank me or anything, it's no problem, I'm just super fantastic like that.
Think Alex is a liar liar pants on fire about that Go Big Read and being super-fantastic? E-mail her at kuskowski@wisc.edu.
