Posted by Eugene Volokh:
Using how-to books for vicarious thrills:
I got many responses to [1]my query; thanks very much to everyone who
submitted items. I ultimately ended up choosing the ones for which I
could find someone else saying (preferably in a reputable publication)
that many readers were indeed likely to use the books to fantasize
about doing, rather than to do. Nothing like having Authorities to
Rely On, even if they're just someone who's making an educated guess
about what's likely.
The items I'm using -- and no need to submit more, thanks -- are:
1. Lonely Planet: Antarctica. See Juliet Coombe, Planet Goes to
China, HERALD SUN (MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA), Jan. 30, 2004, at T11
(interview with Tony Wheeler, co-founder of the company that
produces the Lonely Planet guidebooks) ("Q The Lonely Planet guide
to Antarctica sells about 45,000 copies a year. Why is it so
popular, despite relatively few people going there? [A] Science
and wildlife expeditions are getting more exposure and lots of
people are armchair travellers. The guidebook includes long
sections on wildlife and the environment. For most of us, a trip
to Antarctica is a dream."). Naturally, some of the readers are
"armchair travellers" in the sense of people who are curious and
want to satisfy their curiosity by reading rather than by
traveling; but I suspect that some of the armchair travelers
really do read the books to fantasize about actually being there.
Thanks to Michelle Dulak Thomson.
2. WoodenBoat magazine. See, e.g., MICHAEL RUHLMAN, WOODEN BOATS 23
(2002) ("[A]n obscure magazine idea, a magazine devoted to wooden
boats, became a resounding success precisely because readers
didn't have to own wood to love it, admire it, or even dream about
it. . . . [I]ndustry experts guess that fewer than 10,000 wooden
boats exist in America, not including dinghies, canoes, kayaks,
homemade plywood skiffs, and the like . . . . Yet this minuscule
industry . . . generates a subscription base for Wooden-Boat of
more than 100,000 . . . ."). Thanks to David Riceman.
3. Worst-Case Scenario books. See, e.g., Jayne Clark, `Worst-Case'
Writers' Newest Scenario: Runaway Train to Fame, USA TODAY, Apr.
27, 2001, at 7D ("In this sequel to their best-selling The
Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook, Joshua Piven and David
Borgenicht have once again produced a very funny guide with a
deadpan tone aimed at armchair Walter Mittys, as well as wannabe
Indiana Joneses."). Thanks to many people.
4. Some cookbooks. See, e.g., Maurice Sullivan, Last Best Books of
1997, WINETRADER, vol. R, no. 6,
http://www.wines.com/winetrader/r6/r6bk.html ("I have finally
figured out that all these beautiful and expensive color cookbooks
aren't for people who really want to cook, but rather are for
folks on diets that want to fantasize about food!"). This is
probably something of an overstatement, but I suspect that some of
the cookbooks' readers do indeed use the books this way, even if
others do actually use them to cook. Thanks to many people,
especially Becky Dale.
References
1. http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2004_08_21.shtml#1093555723
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