Russell Smith
Russell Smith
American country music singer who had a hit single with the song "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight."
NationalityCanadian
ProfessionCountry Singer
Date of Birth17 June 1949
CountryCanada
adult age category entirely group looking readers seems ya
The YA category is an entirely new one, and seems to have more to do with readability than with age group or theme. The adult YA readers I know do actually consistently say that they are looking for an easy read, a fun read, an unchallenging read.
conflict fashion forget involves knowledge style
Fashion has always been in conflict with convention. Style involves some knowledge of both. But you can pretty much forget these seasonal injunctions.
freedom
There's a freedom being in the air. It's a lot of fun.
believe timeless wearing
Sadly, I don't really believe in the idea of timeless fashion. It's an oxymoron. If 'classic fashion' really never changed, we'd all still be wearing togas.
generally men moved
Even in early adulthood, men can't be told what to wear; they can only be subtly moved by example, encouragement, and a generally sophisticated atmosphere.
carefully vulnerable
We are still vulnerable to gender-targeted marketing no matter how carefully we edit our children's bookshelves.
serious sure surprise
I wasn't sure he was serious about it. But it really shouldn't surprise us.
beyond cars clothes content critics division domain girls guns presented quite roles telling themselves women worried
Most critics of gender division are women, and they're worried about girls and the roles presented for them by gendered entertainments. They are quite right to be. Telling girls that the cars and the guns are beyond their domain of expertise, and that they should content themselves with clothes and friendships, is limiting.
men
Most men are petrified of standing out in any way or being thought superficial.
fought management
We fought with management. They just didn't know what they were doing.
written ya
The only thing that makes a book YA is that it is about teenagers, and it is written in a very conventional, non-artsy, non-pretentious way. YA is not the place for the oblique or the cryptic. If it is in any way experimental in form, it is not YA.
attention chapters copy cover given gruesome history human incredibly paperback paying special thick
I was given a thick paperback copy of the 'Guinness Book of Records' when I was 11 years old, and I read it gluttonously, cover to cover, paying special lip-smacking attention to all the incredibly gruesome chapters about the violence of human history.
against beauty conflict defend educated power rhetorical sheer society supposed value
Here is a fundamental conflict in educated society: We are not supposed to value beauty so highly, and yet who can defend against its sheer power to move, its rhetorical force?
books craves creature dull fantastic models ninja page picture resolution smashing stories ugly
My son craves picture books about Transformers and Ninja Turtles and the Hulk; they show one fantastic creature smashing or zapping another into smithereens on page after page. They are dull and ugly and show no interesting stories or models of conflict resolution or character building.