Shit my dad says

Modern day phenomenon: Shit my dad says. I just read on a blog that the Twitter page, Shit My Dad Says, is getting picked up by CBS for a sitcom deal. No shit! The guy that started this blog, 28-year-old Justin Halpern started this blog after moving back home with his 'rents. His 73-year-old dad has says some pretty profane and hilarious..shit, such as:

"Nobody is that important...They eat, shit, and screw, just like you. Maybe not shit just like you, you got those stomach problems."

"I like that dog. If he can't eat it, or fuck it, he pisses on it. I can get behind that."

"Does anyone your age know how to comb their fucking hair? It looks like two squirrels crawled on their head and started fucking."

Justin Halpern now has a book deal with Harper Collins!

A few weeks ago, after perusing the book section of Urban Outfitters, where the painfully emo and scene kids shop (and read, apparently), I saw an entire section of books published like the soon to be Shit My Dad Says. We all know what "fml" means. A large, canary yellow book entitled F My Life was made after the website where people send in a sentence or two of why their life fucking sucks. Then there's the many Postsecret books, crafted after the website whose mission it is to "devulge" strangers' secrets on the interwebs (Shameless, yet tactful and enticing. I'm a big fan). I'm not sure what conclusion to draw about Catch 22 sitting next to What's Your Poo Telling You? (There was bathroom reading material when Catch 22 was written, wasn't there? I'd hardly guess it would question what your bowel movements are trying to tell you) I guess I'm astounded, amused really at what sort of material can be considered literature.

This isn't an entirely new concept though, that concept being cultural sensations, compiled by many authors transpiring to print media. Books that are compilations of letters and comments like The Best of Dear Abby have been around forever.

I guess what I'm most confounded about is that through the median of the internet, one can compile a book of similar interests and comments whether it be hilarious (SMDS), pathetically irresistable (FML), or genuinely heartfelt (Postsecret). Definitely not a new concept, but because of the internet, these books are an evocation of cultural progression. We see shorthand sentences and phrases compile a book of disappointments and crafted postcards compiling a book of shame, wonderment, abondment, wealth, joy, etc.

Just goes to show you how diverse, consistent, and prestigious print media still is. Why make these internet sensations into print books? Isn't that the end all be all of achievement? To me it would be. As Thomas Tipp in Vanilla Sky once said, "People will read again!"