Las Vegas Man Sues Over Alleged Douchebaggery

The Smoking Gun is reporting that a 27-year-old club promoter from Vegas is suing publishing giant Simon & Schuster and author Jay Louis for being included in Louis’s book Hot Chicks With Douchebags. As a result of his appearance in the book, Michael Minelli claims he has been exposed to “hatred, contempt, and humiliation”, which has led to “friends, acquaintances, coworkers, employees, and strangers alike” calling him a “douchebag”.

Hot Chicks With Douchebags was published in July of this year, a byproduct of Louis’s popular website of the same name. On page 202 of the book, he describes Minelli as ”so far beyond regular douche, so far beyond uberdouche, he could spontaneously create a new element on the periodic tables–Douche Nine.” Minelli is suing for unspecified damages and legal fees.

This isn’t the first time the douchebag bible has come into some big-time legal ruh-roh!. Last month, three New Jersey women also sued over their inclusion in the book, which they said was “vulgar” and showed them as ”females who date dubious men”.

You can learn more about both stories, as well as see the photos in question and the whole pile of legal documents, by going here and here.

Now, I’ve been a longtime fan of the Hot Chicks With Douchebags website. To be honest, I think it’s friggin’ hilarious, and I check in over there quite frequently to get a gander at the latest round of douche-scrotes invading humankind. While on one hand I can certainly respect someone’s objection to being an unwitting part of such scrutiny, I think all the offense and legal maneuvers taken are perfect examples of how modern society has completely lost touch with something called Satire (yes, that deserves a capital ‘S’). The website and book are satirical, poking fun at the ridiculousness of our very human foibles, which is what Good Satire does. For instance, I wrote a post a few months ago on another blog, a piece satirizing a local magazine, and I got a whole slew of hate mail and “I hope you get shot in the face” kinds of comments. Some people got that it was Satire, of course, but most did not. The world today has not only forgotten how to laugh at itself, but also stares uncomprehendingly at a staple of literature known as Satire.

What’s even more interesting is that the vast majority of Satire (my own misunderstood piece included) is written by authors who are satirizing and making fun of themselves just as much as — if not more than — they are satirizing and making fun of their subjects. Even Jay Louis’s handle on the Hot Chicks With Doucebags site is “Douchebag1″. But all of this is lost on those who just don’t get Satire.

Oh well, at the end of the day, let’s not forget what Bette Midler says: “Fuck ‘em if they can’t take a joke.”

 

Story Source  The Smoking Gun

November 24, 2008 | Filed Under Newsies | Leave a Comment 

Ladies of the Trailer Park

In browsing book trailers for today’s trailer park, I came across three of my favorite ladies talking about their books.

First up, the great Maya Angelou discussing her latest book, Letter to My Daughter. This woman inspires me to no end.

Next, the brilliant Helen Mirren, one of our greatest living actresses, talks about her memoir, In the Frame: My Life in Words and Pictures.

Lastly, Rue McClanahan — who played everyone’s favorite slutbucket, Blanche Devereaux, on The Golden Girls — is interviewed about her autobiography, My First Five Husbands…And the Ones Who Got Away. And she’s still hot after all these years.

November 21, 2008 | Filed Under Trailer Park | Leave a Comment 

National Book Award Winners Announced

Last night, the National Book Foundation handed out its yearly awards, among the most prestigious in the literary community.

81-year-old Peter Matthiessen won the fiction prize for Shadow Country, which is actually a revision of a trilogy of novels he released in the 1990s. He previously won the National Book Award in 1979 for the spiritual odyssey The Snow Leopard. “I’m back!” Matthiessen exclaimed; then, referring admirably to his fellow nominees, “And they’re going to be back, too.”

Poet Mark Doty won the poetry prize for his collection Fire to Fire. In his acceptance speech, Doty acknowledged Obama’s election and his own marriage to his longtime male partner. “We are on a path to equality for all Americans and nothing is going to turn us back,” he said.

Nonfiction winner Annette Gordon-Reed won for The Hemingses of Monticello, which traces the family history of Sally Hemings, who had close ties with Thomas Jefferson.

What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell won the award for young people’s literature.

The event was hosted by Eric Bogosian. Winners receive a snazzy medal and $10,000.

Story Source Yahoo | Image Source National Book Foundation

November 20, 2008 | Filed Under Eyes on the Prize, Newsies | 48 Comments 

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      WHAT IS A SNARK?




      The Snark is a creature created by Lewis Carroll in his poem "The Hunting of the Snark". To give a proper description of Snarks, one must look no further than Carroll himself, who summed them up in one word: Unimaginable.

      But this much we do know: some have feathers, some have whiskers. Snarks sleep a lot, yet they are an ambitious lot -- with very little sense of humor. They love bathing-machines and tend to bring them wherever they go; they are also handy for striking a light. Snarks live on a far-off island, a place filled with chasms and crags, and are constantly on the lookout for Snark-hunters. Their mortal enemies are hope, care, thimbles and forks.

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