Remember that stupid game in middle school when one of the older, snarkier kids defied you to go back home that day and not think of monkeys?
Naturally enough, you went home, and you couldn't get those monkeys out of your head for the whole day. You went to sleep dreaming of those monkeys. It was like Jedi Mind Tricks for 12 year olds.
The middle-school don't-think-of-monkeys trick came to mind when I was reading the beautifully written, funny and highly entertaining new book, The Love Song of Jonny Valentine by Teddy Wayne. Wayne, with mischief on his mind, even uses a quote attributed to Justin Bieber at the very beginning of the book. This book is remarkable because it reads as a satire but it also comes across as a convincing insider look at the celebrity culture that it (gently and not so gently) sends up. Anyhow, this book was a very welcome distraction during an arduous week. I believe that all three of my readers would enjoy this very much but I could be wrong. One thing that keeps popping up in my head: if they ever made a movie out of this book, would there be any chance that Jonny Valentine would be played by .... Don't think of monkeys!
Forgot to mention that Teddy Wayne shot an intentionally cheesy and nerdy promo video for the book featuring Teddy Wayne bobbleheads and a once-in-a-lifetime T-shirt offer.
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