I’ve been back airing my views on the Litopia podcast and this week decided to throw in a few thoughts about recession reading habits. Keeping an eye on what the market wants is crucial right now and I decided to take a look at historical precedents. OK, so leaping right in and analysing the Great Depression might have been siding with the pessimists but it threw up some interesting facts.
It’s often touted that the golden age of Hollywood coincided in part with the Great Depression, resulting in a rash of comedies and glitzy musicals to take the collective mind off what was happening. In fact, the majority of popular films reflected the social zeitgeist. It seems we find comfort in the familiar, i.e. in what is happening to us on a daily basis. Given that there has been a huge upsurge in what psychologists are calling Recession Sex, I feel certain that my prediction of a parallel upsurge in demand for eighties-style bonkbusters will prove correct.
As authors we would be providing a public service by fulfilling this need. Divorce and adultery statistics are also going through the roof. Far better to read about it in a book than actually indulge. The age of the testosterone-packed City is over. There are no square-jawed heroes in Wall Street. We need the real deal and the safest place to find it is between the covers of a book
