It rained again today so Mike didn’t work on the deck. Instead, he searched my name on Amazon. He discovered that Clueless in Alaska has a new review–new to Amazon on April 2nd, new to us today. The last sentence concludes: “…great for kids who like puzzles.” You might be tempted to think that since that was the target audience this might be a slam dunk, but it turns out it’s not. It’s not a glowing review, but it is kind of a funny review.

Hey, a total stranger reviewed my book–I feel like a celebrity! And it gets better. If you click to see all John’s reviews, you can see that he’s also reviewed the Timex Daily Medication Manager, a Hoover vacuum, a wireless range-extender kit, and a laser printer.

So…a medical device, a vacuum, a wireless extender, a printer, and my book.

You can tell a lot about a book by the company it keeps. Maybe it’s me, but I find this really, really funny!

Mike’s exploration of Amazon also revealed that Hogsqueal’s Activity Book and Thimbletack’s Activity Book, from The Spiderwick Chronicles movie, are listed and available for pre-order. They’re due out on January 1, 2008. No cover images yet.

So how many of these books do you suppose have been pre-ordered? Umm…almost one? Crazy. One of the silliest aspects (to my way of thinking) of contemporary culture is the abundance (over-abundance, if you ask me, and no, you didn’t) of hype. Events and objects are preceded by super-huge-colossal campaigns that drive anticipation and desire and…need?…to unbearable levels. I mean, “fever” and “frenzy” are words describing iPhone anticipation. Kids will be waiting in line for hours or even days to get their mitts on the final Harry Potter epic at the stroke of midnight on July 21. And, of course, you’re all dying to be the first to pre-order Hogsqueal’s Activity Book. Right?

Hype is a powerful (and scary) drug.