Where we keep up with the Joneses so you don’t have to. There are certain jobs where one is, by definition, isolated from reality: politician, Hollywood executive, and book publisher. That is the only possible explanation for the fact that, gulp, Gangsta Lit is any sort of phenomenon. After all, there is no evidence on MTV or the streets to indicate that the hip hop lifestyle (yes, that is our tongue firmly in our cheek) has gone mainstream. White kids in small mid-western towns call each other “homie”. Yet publishers shied away from so-called hip hop stories (something about sending the wrong message and all that, but didn’t they say that about Catcher in the Rye?). But never fear, the movement has a cute moniker (will the “Lit” appellation never die?) and a proven sales record, thanks to Vickie Stringer and her self-published novel Let That Be the Reason. It’s only a matter of time before one of the titles is a “Reading with Ripa” pick.
- It’s Gangsta Lit (note: we have to say we never expected this level of cool from MSNBC — yet sure as the sun rose this morning, they spelled gangster “gangsta”)
- Triple Crown Publications
- Tales From the Street
