Books by people who have let me down

Once upon a time, there was a sports journalist. He was locally beloved for his wry and sometimes touching observations. Even some people who didn't like sports liked to read his column. (Note that here, he at least admits he's a hypocrite)

Then he wrote a bunch of books that are at a superficial level kind of heartwarming, until you realize that he's full of crap and producing his books with the sole intent of provoking emotion. It's not like he writes good literature and along the way it is touching because you feel so moved. It's like he took a course from people who were rejected from Lifetime Movie's writing team, then applied all he learned to his books, which include:



He's also a pretentious jerk, but that's another story. There is, of course, some irony in the idea that a lonely, rich, workaholic journalist writes "haunting tales" of love and the people who are important to us.

(I will note that when I did a Powell's search for Tuesdays with Morrie, they told me I might also like 1984. Take from that what you'd like.)


That rant said, I was similarly angered when I read Esme Codell's new book:


Sing a Song of Tuna Fish

which is inexplicably up for the Sasquatch Award. This book is far inferior to her 2003 book, Sahara Special, for which she won several deserved awards (but not the Sasquatch! Maybe they now feel guilty for their oversight?) Let it be known, lest you think I'm an Esme hater, that I loved this book, and my students did too.

In Tuna Fish, Esme shares stories of her life in fifth grade, all of which begin with the very "back in my day" phrase of, "Let me tell you something about..." It's a cute device, but the book definitely seems to be written to adults, not students. I admittedly haven't run into any kids who have read this book, so it'd be interesting to see what they think.

The other troubling thing about books related to Codell is that just like Albom, Codell seems to suffer from an inflated view of herself. The interesting memoir Educating Esme: A Diary of a Teacher's First Year is marred by the fact that there seems to be no educating going on -- Esme seems to arrive in the mean halls of a Chicago Public School with all her ducks in a row. She does just fine in her first year, which, I mean, great for her, but it causes her book to read like a tale of, "First I did this perfectly, then I did this perfectly, and some of my students didn't get me because I'm wacky and original, but eventually they all loved me." Good self esteem is nice and all, but I think it would have been nice to see her be a little more vulnterable. Codell also runs the modestly titled Planet Esme.

I think part of the reason why I'm so troubled by Codell is that I feel like ideologically, we share A LOT of the same views! I enjoy reading her book blog! I want to like her! I just worry that people will be turned off from her because they think she's pretentious.

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