The Bookseller.com

7th January 2009

Polly Jaffé is co-owner of the Jaffé & Neale Bookshop in Chipping Norton.

Christmas nightmares

07.11.08

The furore over Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross must have caused some excitement in the shiny penthouse offices of the publishing world last week. How has “Sachsgate” affected the runners of the big publishers’ celebrity stables as they line up for the Christmas Grand National? Whose behaviour has guaranteed the sales force a Christmas party at Heston’s Fat Duck instead of the Little Chef at Heston Services? It’s certainly hard to tell if anyone will or should profit from this media frenzy.

The storm in a Radio 2 Roadshow mug has highlighted for me the state of celebrity biographies. Bookshops around the country are truly groaning under the weight of glossy celebrity tittle-tattle. When my mood is brighter I hope that this is the year that publishers realise that this genre has run its course and that, apart from a few well-written and informative exceptions, there is little to learn and certainly no money to be made from the ghosted ramblings of a Bollinger-fuelled B-lister.

Jonathan Ross may well be asking “why do I say these things?” But I want to ask the great British Public: “Why do you buy these things?” While we are interrogating people, can I also ask publishers: “Why do you publish 
these things?”

My rant is over.

There is every possibility that sales this Christmas are going to be flat and unexuberant. I am sure that many publishers and retailers are preparing their own profitwarning speeches to their shareholders or bank managers right now. The economic freefall that most countries are experiencing is going to be the obvious headline for all struggling businesses.

But, for the book trade, I would like to venture that the books available this year are rather a weak offering and that will contribute to unexceptional sales. I suggest that the hunt for the perfect kiss-and-tell celebrity blockbuster has distracted publishers from seeking out fresh, interesting and exceptional new books.

If there is to be any good to come from this economic downturn I hope it is that the public and publishers alike turn their backs on the celebrity “memoir” 
and hunt for new and enriching books that may break people out of their boom and bust cycle.

One celebrity memoir I really can recommend, and I write this before the American election results are announced, is Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama. There’s more to learn from this book than Jonathan Ross’ banana-skin escapades

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