Have you ever gotten a reading recommendation from a celebrity? I don't mean directly, like you're good friends with someone who happens to be a celebrity and they recommend something to you cos then really, the celebrity part is incidental. Nor do I mean you read in some review a celebrity mentions reading something and you take that as a recommendation. I mean, have you ever seen an actor in the trailer for some movie based on a book and decided to read the book because that actor is amazing, ergo book must be good? Yeah me neither, but I have seriously considered it. Most recently with
Water for Elephants.
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| Can this sell books? |
It was hard not to see this book on stands and in various commuters hands. It is immensely popular. But I never had any interest in it. Almost inevitably with a popular piece of work, it was made into a movie. I still didn't think too much of it but figured I could find out what the book was about (because picking up the book and reading the back cover was way too much work). Then I saw Christoph Waltz is in it and while I can't say I'm familiar with his full catologue of work (because it's mostly in German), he kicked so much ass in
Inglourious Bastards* that he's earned a lot of goodwill in my book. Enough that I considered reading the book. A book that previously I had no interest in. All because I liked him so much as a crazy Nazi in an entirely different movie.
Thus far I have yet to read
Water for Elephants and with reviews like this one from
Soy Chai Bookshelf, I can't say I'm rushing to get a copy of it. But has anyone picked up a book for, if not the same reason, than an equally weak one? If so, how did that work out for you?
*Seriously, that opening? He is mesmerizing and terrifying and I could watch it over and over again. Really, if you haven't seen the movie, just go watch that one part. I guess I'd say watch the whole thing, but at least watch the first scene.
