Timewaster's Guide Archive
Departments => Books => Topic started by: stacer on October 06, 2004, 04:11:47 PM
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So... many of you have heard about the trend in children's lit for a celebrity to announce that there's nothing good in children's books, so they've decided to write their own (crappy) book.
Well, now John Gotti has gotten into the scene:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/gossip/story/237506p-203873c.html
I know, I know, it's the NYTimes, which requires a subscription. So here's an excerpt:
John A. (Junior) Gotti has been called many things: a thug, the Junior Don, boss of his late father's crime family. But he's trying on a new one - children's book author.
In an attempt to get out of prison on bail, the son of the Dapper Don mentions performing several works of charity, including writing a book, "The Children of Shaolin Forest," to raise money for neglected kids.
The pumped-up Gotti says in court papers he was inspired to put down the barbells and pick up a pen last year after he learned of the horrific plight of the Jackson children of New Jersey.
At age 19, Bruce Jackson weighed only 45 pounds and stood just 4 feet tall when he was found rooting through garbage in Collingswood last October. Three siblings, ages 9, 10 and 14, weighed a total of 90 pounds when they were found.
Their adoptive parents, Raymond and Vanessa Jackson, were charged with multiple counts of aggravated assault and child neglect. Their case is pending.
Gotti's lawyers, Jeffrey Lichtman and Mark Fernich, described their client's reaction when he learned about the boys while serving time in federal prison in upstate Ray Brook.
"Their plight moved him to write a children's story, 'The Children of Shaolin Forest,' whose proceeds will fund the boys' care and education," the lawyers wrote. "Publication is pending."
The Son-of-Sam law, which prohibits criminals from cashing in on their misdeeds, would not apply to Gotti because he is not writing about his own exploits.
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I have no idea about the quality of his book. And since he can't make any money on it and it's going for the care of these kids, good for him. But can't he just, y'know, start a fundraiser, rather than writing a book? So few of these kinds of books are good. I'd say the only ones I have any respect for are Jamie Lee Curtis's picture books, which show a real talent for writing.
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yay for the mafia! they're so family oriented.
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The thing though, is that a lot of people will buy the book out of curiousity -- more people than would give money at a Gotti fundraiser. I'm sure this will be more lucrative.
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Well, was Madonna's book any good?
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Heavens, no. Way too much text, and the illustrations were anorexic little girls. Overly sentimental, etc. Just plain bad story badly written.
I haven't bothered to read the rest of them, because the first was so bad, but have heard that as they go forward they're not quite so painful. And the illustrators are better--one won a Caldecott Honor (or was it Boston Globe Horn Book?) for another book he did.