Assumptions on the Readership of this Luxury Product

Thu 16 Feb 2006 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Posted by: Gavin

Matt Cheney has posted a poem from LCRW 16: “Scorpions” by Chris Fox.

Matt has a great piece on the accessibility of texts on Strange Horizons. A long time ago (LCRW 4, 1999…eek!) we listed a few “Assumptions on the Readership of this ‘Luxury Product'”:

You read.(1)

You read English.

You have a home.(2)

You are not chronically hungry.(2)

You will not Disappear. (2)(3)

You regard some part of your income as ‘disposable.’ (1)(2)(3)(4)

  1. And, oddly enough, you occasionally go beyond mass media products and read tiny magazines with great fiction, poetry and odd little ideas.
  2. Unless you found this in the trash.
  3. You need not fear for your life by reading or possessing this or any other text or idea, samizdat or other.
  4. You sometimes consider where the money you work for goes. You sometimes try economic support of ideas and ideologies. You don’t always fall for the hype. You shop as a pastime. You don’t always buy ‘brand’ names. This may be time-consuming and wear you out. In 5 years you will be going to the mall thinking of all the time this is saving you.