Críticas Magazine

Adriana V. Lopez

MySpace and Youtube is for Book Lovers
March 14, 2008

I have all kinds of friends on Myspace.com: Modern Times Bookstore, The Strand, Tia Chucha’s Cultural Center, Harper Rayo, Penguin, and Julio Cortázar, just to name a few. It’s just another way I can network with fellow bibliophiles, snoop around for new titles and never have to leave my house to do it.

For instance, today I visited Youtube.com again and searched Random House Mondadori on Youtube to see what books they were promoting in Spanish.I clicked on David Eggers' Qué es el qué’s (What is the What’s) beautifully animated book trailer with a Spanish voice over. It had 153 views since it was posted 3 weeks ago. Then I clicked on Santiago Roncagliolo’s book trailer for El Cuarta Espada. He had the highest views: 5,599, within a 5 month posting time, and had a whopping 50 comments from fans in his native Peru. Then I clicked on Chuck Palahniuk’s Rant (curiously, the Spanish didn’t translate the title), and watched a theatrical interpretation of the main protagonist’s monologues by some earnest Spanish actors.

Afterwards, I logged back onto Myspace and decided to find some more book loving friends. I requested The American Library Association’s friendship. (Still waiting for an acceptance). Her details list that she’s a 102-year-old remale from Chicago. Her motto: “Everybody's working for the wiki.” Ahem, what's the Wiki? Her friends included the Amigos Library Services and a “Ms. Library,” a 33-year-middle school librarian whose motto is one of my favorites: “He who lends a book is an idiot. He who returns the book is more of an idiot.” She also listens to NPR, instantly liked her! After that, I wrote this blog.

Posted by Adriana V. Lopez on March 14, 2008 | Comments (0)