This article essentially rehashes The New York Times’ recent coverage of Comedy Central’s surprising influence in the world of book sales (now archived, but we blogged about it here), but it warms the cockles of this bookworm’s little heart to see The Daily Show and The Colbert Report getting recognition for their author-friendly interviews. From The Mobile Press-Register (via Al.com):
No joke: Stewart, Colbert lead serious talk on books
Sunday, July 08, 2007Want to know where the most stimulating discussion of books is to be found on the American scene these days? The answer might surprise you; it certainly did me when I stumbled upon it by accident on Comedy Central. It’s the late-night broadcasts of “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report.” Authors, publicists and millions of television viewers have noticed, and the result has been nothing less than a shot in the arm for the beleaguered book industry.
Though the two shows are fundamentally different (“The Daily Show” is a faux news broadcast, whereas “The Colbert Report” apes the blustery pontificating of “The O’Reilly Factor”), their respective stars — Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert — each routinely devote a 7-minute segment to an author interview. Because both of these comedians are so incandescently brilliant and clearly enjoy books and reading, the featured writers experience what many subsequently describe as the most exciting moment of their book tours.
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Given that the on-air time is limited and the hosts so nimble and incisive, guest authors are forced to play their A game. Neither Stewart nor Colbert allow any rambling or stumbling. Many writers clearly revel in the rapid exchanges and the sincere interest in their work demonstrated by Stewart and Colbert, though the latter sometimes engages in irritating rhetorical loop-de-loops. Despite their comedic mandate, both hosts can be serious when the occasion requires. Stewart was suitably somber during the Ishmael Beah interview and made little attempt to inject laughter into the proceedings. And Colbert, hyper-alert and zeroed-in on his guests as he invariably is, can turn on a dime when necessary, interrupting himself to follow up or exploit something the author has just said.
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The impact is discernable locally. When asked if customers mentioned Stewart or Colbert while shopping for books, Jennifer Myrick, manager of Fairhope’s Page and Palette Bookstore, was emphatic: “Definitely. It’s a pretty regular thing.”
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Mad props to our webmaster, DB, for the find!
That would make an interesting study: for buyers of books that also were featured on TCR/TDS, did you buy them before or after the episode, and did you buy because they were on the show? Speaking for myself as a person who tries not to buy too many books (I have several thousand and have not much more room), when I do buy books they’ve got to be something I want to keep. Out of the last 10 books I’ve bought, 7 or 8 were only bought after seeing the author on one of the shows. I might have been interested in reading them anyway, but to BUY them I only decided after seeing the author on the show(s). Amazon should add a little “check your reason off here” box somehow. (To that end, I’ve just finished US Guys by Charlie Le Duff, guest on TCR a few months ago, and highly highly recommend it. The chapters on the Little Big Horn reenactment and the Detroit Homicide Bureau in particular hit me hard. And I’d never have bought that book if it were not for TCR.)
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Meow House, I’m jealous. If I had more space (and, I suppose, if I actually *owned* a home/condo instead of playing the renting game), I would love to have a book collection like that. I’m a total booknerd, but I think I only had about 650 books the last time I tried to count them. And there’s really no room for more unless I start blocking off windows (seriously, no room at all – they’re already double shelved and stacked on nearly every flat surface in my apartment).
Jealous.
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