Dookus
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Fri Oct-08-04 12:35 AM
Original message |
OK... about this kid who cut his arm off... |
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Aron Ralston.... the guy who got his arm stuck between a boulder and a wall and after 6 days, amputated his won arm. He's on an episode of "Ellen" I Tivo'ed.
He's way cool. I can't imagine going through such an ordeal. But the whole POINT of his book (called "Between a Rock and a Hard Place" - a little obvious, but we'll let that go) is that the ordeal taught him the importance of priorities. Spirituality, friends, family were more important than career and money-making.
Sounds good...
Except...
He's on a goddamn book tour! The whole point of a book tour is to sell books and make money!
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jdj
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Fri Oct-08-04 12:36 AM
Response to Original message |
1. Honey, if I cut my arm off, I'm gonna get paid. |
Dookus
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Fri Oct-08-04 12:46 AM
Response to Reply #1 |
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but do you get paid for saying you've rejected money because of your ordeal?
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jdj
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Fri Oct-08-04 12:51 AM
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7. lots of people do it, it's called the talk show circuit. |
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I admired him because when he was on 60 min/Nighline/20-20 or whatever it was and Dan Rather/Tom Brokaw/Ted Koppel/orsomeotherclone was baiting him about the so-called "spiritual angle" he never would get specific about that, or preachy, which was cool.
(But it was Utah, so he may be a Mormon and just thinks everyone knows)
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The Backlash Cometh
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Fri Oct-08-04 04:44 AM
Response to Reply #3 |
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In a nutshell, if people are willing to pay for his story, the boy deserves the $.
It's truly a unique story and what he's selling isn't just entertainment, (as macabre as that sounds) it's inspiration.
He's a young man and he's going to have to make a living somehow and raise his family, which he's entitled to do. I'd rather buy his book, than have to see him on a corner panhandling in fifteen years.
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demconfive
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Fri Oct-08-04 12:45 AM
Response to Original message |
2. According to standard american bartering vernacular... |
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...trading your arm for a million bucks is often said (i.e."it costs an arm and a leg"), although rarely carried out. If he wants to sleep with a supermodel, however, it'll cost him his left nut.
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rumguy
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Fri Oct-08-04 12:47 AM
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4. He's not really a kid, is he? |
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Isn't he like in his thirties?
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Dookus
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Fri Oct-08-04 12:50 AM
Response to Reply #4 |
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but I just looked it up... he's 27.
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drumwolf
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Fri Oct-08-04 12:51 AM
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6. does he have a prosthetic now? |
jdj
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Fri Oct-08-04 12:52 AM
Response to Reply #6 |
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several that cater to whatever sport he's doing. He even has one that has an ice ax attached to it.
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getoffmytrain
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Fri Oct-08-04 12:54 AM
Response to Original message |
9. "taught him the importance of priorities" |
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Edited on Fri Oct-08-04 12:55 AM by getoffmytrain
Apply a tourniquet before you cut your arm off?
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SheWhoMustBeObeyed
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Fri Oct-08-04 02:04 AM
Response to Reply #9 |
12. that would be MY priority |
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*cleaning diet pepsi off keyboard*
:D
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gbwarming
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Fri Oct-08-04 01:11 AM
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10. Book tour could about getting the message out too. |
gardenista
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Fri Oct-08-04 02:01 AM
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11. Why is it that people get up in arms (no pun intended) about memoirists |
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Edited on Fri Oct-08-04 02:02 AM by mgdecombe
selling books about their extraordinary experiences?
First of all, I bet that when it's said and done, he will have actually made very little money. Secondly, he obviously created a product, putting time and effort, and probably no small part of his soul, into it. Why should he not get paid for it? And in what way does getting paid for the book diminish his ability to focus on friends and family?
I have an author friend, (who sells books, goes on book tours, but probably lives near the poverty level, anyway), and when he does a tour, he stays exclusively with old friends, all over the country.
There was a huge hoopla here on DU about 6 months ago when Jessica Lynch had her memoir of her experience published. Many people jumped all over her for it, despite the fact that she gave nothin to Bush, (much to his dismay, I am sure), and donated a significant portion of her earnings to a fund for Lori Peistewa's children.
Sorry to rant, but it just burns me when people think that every published memoirist or author who tours is raking in the bucks. Most of them are not.
edit: punctuation
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Dookus
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Fri Oct-08-04 03:44 AM
Response to Reply #11 |
13. I know most writers don't make a fortune |
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but he's a NYTimes best-seller, on tour. And the point of his tour is to espouse his spiritual acknowledgement that a career and money aren't his priority.
I just find that odd.
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Donkeyboy75
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Fri Oct-08-04 04:11 AM
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14. It's impossible to know the particulars of the situation, but |
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perhaps he wanted to tell his story (to inspire...spirituality?) to the general public, but the publisher is making him tour as part of the contract to promote the book.
Ah, who knows? :shrug:
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Tom Kitten
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Fri Oct-08-04 04:29 AM
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15. Without knowing any details |
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Like I'm sure all of you don't, you just feel like bitch slapping someone!
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Sun May 12th 2024, 06:23 AM
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