An evening somewhat, but not entirely, wasted

[gyzki]

The Harvard Coop announced it was hosting "an evening with the authors of Bored of the Rings," which sounded like a neat trick seeing as Doug Kenney died in, what, 1980? So, being a great fan of the book back in the day, naturally I went to find out. It was much less than it sounded like: a reading by about a half-dozen current undergraduate '

Comments

[cvirtue]

I like that book, but it didn't fill the cultural role that it does for some others; I even fail to recognize sallies from it (except for Samothrace!) and embarrass myself. Ah, well.

[gyzki]

A you-had-to-be-there-at-the-time thing, I rather think. The brand names are incredibly dated by now (the new edition comes with footnotes, apparently) for one thing, and when Monty Python and the Holy Grail came along it quite knocked BotR out of that particular cultural niche of constant quotability.

[cvirtue]

Right.

I remember reading it around the bus on the way to Debate meets in high school, also the DUNE parody, which is lots of fun. If you're reading out loud with friends, they both can be hilarious without additional substances, as you know.

[umbran]

But the Coop! I was way impressed by the Coop. The Mass Ave storefront is only half the size it was in my day, but it's all bookstore (including cafe) and a very classy bookstore at that.

Under the Harvard branding, it's a Barnes & Noble.

[gyzki]

Well, it's a sight classier than my regular B&N in Burlington.
Hooray Harvard branding, he said self-referentially.

[gale_storm]

*HOOT!!!*

I remember that book... Haven't read it in years and years, but... Oh, man, that really takes me back, although to a time that I mostly spent reading in hiding.