The Birthday Gift - A Very Different Time

 " ... for my thirteenth birthday, I asked for and received a copy of THE COMPLETE STORIES AND POEMS OF EDGAR ALLAN POE." 

That's what Neil Gaiman pens for the "Introduction" to the coffee-table book EDGAR ALLAN POE.

Gaiman grew up in a different time. We read books, lots of them. The last tribe to have shaped their lives in that time probably were we Boomers. 

Although television was evolving as a major medium books were considered downright sacred. Love of them sent the message that you were headed somewhere.

Over the summer there were lists of them we were supposed to complete before returning for the seventh grade. In the fat envelope for my acceptance to college and later Harvard Law School there was also a list of must-read books.

Along the way ghostwriting books earned me a nice living. There is still some of that work out there if you are a patient enough scribe to do long-form. More of us have crossed the line over to short-form as in copywriting for clients and blogging for our own pleasure.

Currently a thirteen-year-old would likely want as a birthday gift a video game, a ticket to a concert and/or outdoors equipment for camping. 

For my birthdays, no one buys books for me any more. That's just not done. It used to be, though, wasn't it. I would curl up on the couch, print book in hand, and be transported to another dimension.

In most cases you have only one shot in communications. Jane Genova is a communications coach and content-creator. Complimentary consultation (please text 203-468-8579 or email janegenova374@gmail.com) 


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