Wednesday, June 16, 2010

You Can't Handle the Truth

As a Twitter newbie, the Ape is still figuring out what can/cannot be done with it (and by proxy, what should/shouldn't be done with it).

But today, following the #booksthatchangedmyworld hashtag, we've had our favorite early Twitter experience yet. And oh the wonders and horrors to be found there. If you are on Twitter, I highly recommend spending a few minutes *coug* hours *cough* gazing in stupified wonder. For the tweetless, here is a sampling of the books that have, apparently, changed the world of at least some tweeps:

  • Pleasure by Eric Jerome Dickey ("I re-read it at least twice a year")
  • The Seductive Art of Japanese Bondage
  • Rich Dad, Poor Dad (generously tweeted by the book's author, the cad.)
  • A Yaqui Way of Life ("It totally reinforced by belief in Native American shamanism and sorcery!")
  • Sony Ericsson T300 User's Guide
  • 1984 & Harry Potter. Tied. (I'm inexplicably fascinated by this. Damn you 140 character limit. Damn you.)
  • the B.I.B.L.E. (about some sort of evangelical android, we assume)
  • Crazy number of Judy Blume mentions. No one sticking up for Beverly Cleary? No one? 
  • Every book by Iceberg Slim ("ESPECIALLY PIMP!!!")
  • The Austism Book (ok, tearing up now, gotta wrap this up)
  • And the two hands-down, runaway leaders: The Bible and Twilight. (Green Eggs and Ham and Pride and Prejudice seem to be fighting it out for third).
I should say also that there many, many really wonderful books being mentioned as well. But listing To Kill a Mockingbird, Slaughterhouse-5, and Catcher in the Rye isn't quite as interesting. 

Oh and in case you're wondering, here was our meager tweet: @readingape 
In biographical order: East of Eden, The Iliad, As I Lay Dying, Mrs. Dalloway, The Professor's House, Gilead #booksthatchangedmyworld

3 comments:

  1. Seeing people tweet about Twilight changing their lives made me die a little, and not in the fun Web 2.0 Twitter way where people say *dies* when something is awesome. I don't think we can argue with the idea that it changed the world, but I'll stand by you in saying the change isn't one I'm happy about.

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  2. I have seen some very amusing hashtags in the past too. I think the answers to these questions can be very revealing, so I'm always careful what I tweet!

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  3. This post made me chuckle. I'm a Twitter newbie myself... and here I thought I was THATGIRL who would never use it. *sigh*

    I will now have to do a #booksthatchangedmyworld tweet. I'll have to give this some thought. Hmm... :)

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