* Does this come in other colors?

Man, I wish I had this type of article from Newsweek for other parts of daily life.

Imagine:

• We eat it so you don’t have to.
• We go to work so you don’t have to.
• We argue with the wife so you don’t have to.
• We (fill in the blank) so you don’t have to.

From the Newsweek website:

You love reading newsy nonfiction, but you just don’t have the time. We get it, and we’re here to help. Give us five minutes, and we’ll give you the whole book—the big ideas, the best bits, the buzziest details. And you’ll get hours of your life back. Deal?

Outsourcing at its finest. Top that, A.J.

In this case, the service is reading Mark Kurlansky’s new book The Eastern Stars: How Baseball Changed the Dominican Town of San Pedro. The writer thoughtfully offers several breakdowns, including

• “What’s the big deal?”
• “Buzz Rating” (Whisper, Hum, Rumble, Roar): this one gets a “hum.”
• “One Breath Author Bio”  like your “elevator pitch.”
• “The Book in His Words”:  the author’s, that is, not God; I imagine they change it to “Her Words” as appropriate
• “Judging by the Cover”:  because, face it, a lot of us do
• “Don’t Miss These Bits”: main talking points
• “Swipe this Critique”: Sorry, don’t get the reference, although this is the crux of the matter — the writer’s take on the book)
• “Factoid File”: Probably could have been rolled into “Don’t Miss…”
• And, finally “The Grade Book”: for Prose (D), Construction (D), and Miscellaneous (A). Pretty harsh.)

And is if these brief sections aren’t brief enough, key phrases get the highlighter treatment.

So, overall, the writer might have like the subject matter, but didn’t think much of the presentation.

(Is it my imagination, or does Kurlansky look a tad like “the most interesting man in the world?”)

Tagged as: Eastern Stars, Mark Kurlansky, Newsweek