Sunday, April 28, 2024

Hello, Pretty!

"It's not as good as Midnights."

Negative posts and reviews appeared within hours of last weekend's release of Taylor Swift's new 31-song opus (and marketing extra-extravaganza) of an album, The Tortured Poet's Department. (Midnights was her previous album, from 2022.)

Yet in the same first few hours:

"INSTANT CLASSIC." (Rolling Stone)

(IN SHOUTY-CAPS!)

So which is it...? Terrible? Incredible?

* * *

Last week, I kept thinking not about whether the new album is "good" or "bad." But about the swiftness (ha!) of the judgment.

How some inhaled the 2-hour album like my dog Augie inhales a pup cup in the back seat before we are even out of the Starbucks drive-thru. Then burps up a post. No thought; all impulse.

How we were calling the vote either yea or nay just as the polls open.

How our Hot-Take Culture dopa-rewards shallow knee-jerk takes at the expense of slower, thoughtful consideration.

I imagine Augie writing a food review of a pup cup:

"It was..." he bats at the bubbles in his little brain in desperate effort to recall the seconds-long inhale of the pup cup. Finally, he declares: "It wasn't as good as Midnights."

* * *

It's always a little hard to listen to new music (or to get into a new book).

We want to love this new art like we love the old stuff.

It's like starting a new relationship. It's fun but foreign—at once exciting and exhausting.

We want to rush to the point when it takes root & thrives & goes wild in our heads: when we know it and love it and it wraps itself around how we see the world.

A week later, I like The Tortured Poet's Department a lot. But getting to this point is slower than I remembered. Until suddenly... ahhhh there it is...! RIGHT. THERE.

And we can't imagine the world without it.

* * *

This isn't a comment on Taylor or pup cups. This is a reminder of something that the news cycle and social media don't support... but that we can support within ourselves:

It takes time to Connect.

To new music. To a new book. To new people. To an audience. To a customer.

* * *

Some things don't need a Hot Take—microwaved to a scalding, blistering degree. Some things require a Cool Take—because it takes time for things to settle in.

We want everything fast. We're impatient to get there.

Terrible? Incredible? "Maybe it needed more foam?" —Augie

The slowest way is the fastest way, more often than we realize.

* * *

📚 5 READING RECOMMENDATIONS FOR YOU

I sat down to share books with you this morning and next thing I know I was writing about new music and microwaved Hot Takes and pup cups. (Sometimes writing just takes you there, doesn't it...?)

Anyway! Here are 5 books worth sharing with you today... with links to Bookshop.org.

👉 BTW! If you don't know Bookshop.org... Every purchase from the site financially supports independent bookstores, which are suiting up every day to go head-to-head with Amazon and Walmart and Target.

This weekend, Bookshop.org is celebrating Independent Bookstore Day by offering Free Shipping! This isn't an ad for them, but if Amazon's free shipping makes us reflexively default there... well, now we have no excuse.

1) One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories, B.J. Novak

What it is: A story collection from actor, writer, and executive producer of the hit comedy The Office.

Why I recommend it for you: Read this one for a study in how stories come from everywhere/everything.

The opening story ("The Rematch") features an embarrassed, depressed hare who seeks a do-over of that famous footrace with the tortoise. The opening paragraph is a single sentence and it's sharp and smart and beautiful. He also (presciently) writes about an AI sex robot in a way that will haunt you. (It. Will. Haunt.)

I'm interviewing B.J. Novak next week at Content Entrepreneur Expo (join us!); as part of my prep, I picked up his book.

As I was reading these stories... I kept thinking of the Neil Gaiman line: "Stories may well be lies, but they are good lies that say true things."

2) The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Taylor Jenkins Reid

What it is: An aging and reclusive Hollywood film icon spills the truth on the glamour and scandal of her life to an unknown magazine reporter.

Why I recommend it: Study this one for pacing. The way Taylor Jenkins Reid moves a story along at a fast, addictive clip but without leaving you feeling rushed...? I was in awe.

Side note: Taylor Jenkins Reid has a legion of fans. I avoided pulling on my boots and stepping in with the legion... because... I don't know... I tend to avoid authors who get gushing reviews in People magazine in favor of Serious Writers.

I was wrong. This book has more nuance than gushing reviews in People give it credit for. I am schooled.

3) Olivetti, Allie Millington

What it is: A middle-reader novel about an introverted boy and Olivetti, a typewriter who's been forgotten by his family... until something happens. And only Olivetti can help.

Why I recommend it: A typewriter that communicates by typing back?! God I wish I thought of it. I'm so mad I didn't. But our gift is that Allie Millington did.

4) Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer

What it is: The subtitle says it all: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the teachings of plants.

Why I recommend it: Let's go back to the subtitle. How do those three things make sense in one book? It's a masterclass in braiding together cold-lab facts, story, and nature seamlessly. 

I kept thinking of all the tech and business-to-business content creators who've asked me over the last few years: Yeah but how do I blend storytelling with our brand expertise? This is your inspiration, friends.

5)Yellowface, by R.F. King

What it is: A story of a white lie that spirals wildly out of control.

Why I recommend it: It's a biting satire of the book publishing industry, racism, ambition, social media, and marketing. It's objectively a good book—but also... depressing? Especially if you are a writer or an artist.

So why put you through that, eh?

Because this book stayed with me. At first, I didn't like it. Not as good as Midnights.

But then I started to wonder... do we really dislike it? Or do we loathe that part of ourselves that might also sacrifice love, friendship, family, ethics, the moral code... all the in the name of ambition, or to fill a gaping void inside us?

It's a genius book.

In other words (you knew this was coming!)... INSTANT CLASSIC. 

From me this time. Not Rolling Stone.

DEPARTMENT OF SHENANIGANS

Drama dots.

SELECT EVENTS

📆 MarketingProfs B2B Forum, Boston. What's the ultimate destination for B2B marketers to discover how to drive growth, elevate brand reputation, prove ROI, and stay ahead of the ever-changing marketing curve? It's Boston. You gotta be there this year.

📆 Content Entrepreneurs Expo, Cleveland. Code ANN100 gets you 100 clams off. 

📆 1000Watt Brand & Marketing Summit, Dallas. Code ANN gets you a generous 15% discount!
 

Thanks for reading this far.

Thanks for your kindness and generosity.

Stay healthy.

Breathe.

🫡 See you May 12!