Photo: Courtesy of Abrams Image
We heard about it last year, but we didn’t actually expect for The Facebook Book to reach print. It was meant to be written by a few “funny” Harvard graduates and encapsulate everything that is humorous about the Facebook phenomenon. But we assumed that since the kids were Harvard grads, they’d realize what a weird idea this was and drop it. They didn’t. We just received a press release forwarded to our in-boxes about it, and realized that it’s been on sale since the beginning of the month. In fact, it’s the No. 8 most popular book on Amazon.com in the category “Books > Computers & Internet > Business & Culture > Humor” — absolutely scrabulous!
Or not. It’s the No. 166,530 most popular book on Amazon overall — apparently funny books about the Internet aren’t a top-selling genre. Why? Because that’s what the Internet is for. From a description of the book:
Full of anecdotes (true and semi-true), tips (useful and useless), and other insights, including chapters on the ethics and etiquette of using the Book, what your profile really says about you, and a Facebook dictionary (which defines for the uninitiated terms like “frenemy” and “fauxmance”), THE FACEBOOK BOOK will appeal to everyone who’s tapped into Web 2.0 culture and counterculture from undergrads, to career-immersed 30-somethings who like to keep in touch with old friends, to high schoolers, and savvy parents.
If they are “tapped into Web 2.0 culture,” won’t they already be discussing all of these things on blogs?
Like, for example, when Gawker debated the secret pull-down search list feature on Facebook earlier this week. It was discovered, debated, and solved in the span of two days, and now we’re over it. (Expect the book to come out August ‘09.) There’s just something so offensive about writing a book about Facebook, even if it has a “bloggy,” funny style. Or maybe especially because it does. It’s the ultimate regression of a forward-thinking movement. Or something. Has anyone read it? If you have, and you think it’s great, please let us know in the comments. We gave up reading books a long time ago, if you hadn’t already guessed.
Harvard Jokers Sell The Facebook Book to Harry N. Abrams [NYO]
Full Disclosure: Daily Intel editor Chris thinks he may have run cross-country with one or the book’s authors at boarding school, back when a “facebook” was actually a book they gave out with everyone’s face in it. He’ll have to wait until he goes home to look at it and check, because the damn thing isn’t on the Internet.
Update: It turns out Chris did go to high school with Evan Lushing, one of the authors. How do we know? Less than three hours after this post went up, Lushing sent over a Facebook message and friend request. See? No need for real books at all!
