This morning I stumbled across the website for The Outdoor Co-Ed Topless Pulp Appreciation Society, which is exactly what it sounds like: a group of New Yorkers (mostly young and female, from the pictures) who have been getting together for at least the past two summers to read Hard Case Crime and similarly noirish stuff, usually in Central Park, with their tops off. (There also seems to be a connected series of read-ins on the roof deck of some building, where full nudity is allowed.)
Yes, there are pictures, and many of those pictures will not be safe for work. That seems to be the point of it: it's more "look at us having fun reading and tanning with no shirts on" than "and here's what we thought of these books." I've chosen one tame image to put here, to illustrate the concept. (If anyone from OCTPAS comes by and wants me to remove it, my e-mail is in the right sidebar.) I'm also happy to see the focus is clearly entirely on the fact that they think this is a fun thing to do, and not on wanting people to look at them. (There's plenty of the other on the Internet already, of course.)
I was hoping for book criticism, but tits are pretty darn nice, too. I never want to be someone who complains about tits; that would be sad. But it would be swell if those readers wrote a tad more about what they read, particularly the ones that multiple topless readers enjoyed -- because that could make a completely wonderful back-of-book blurb.
Still, this is an activity that should be encouraged. Well, both of them: reading and public toplessness. Not necessarily together, I suppose, but there is a lovely chocolate-and-peanut-butter piquancy to the combination. The world turns out to be a little more interesting and exciting than I thought it was when I got up this morning.
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- Read in August
- My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf
- Teen Boat! by Dave Roman and John Green
- Strange Embrace/69 Barrow Street by Lawrence Block
- Glamour in Glass by Mary Robinette Kowal
- The Titanic Awards by Doug Lansky
- The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde
- Salt Water Taffy: Caldera's Revenge, Part 2 by Mat...
- The Coldest War by Ian Tregillis
- The Book of Human Insects by Osamu Tezuka
- Reviewing the Mail: Week of 8/25
- This Weekend's Blogging Has an Unexpected Theme
- Travel as a Political Act by Rick Steves
- Shrewsbury Folk Festival
- The Things You Find When You're Not Looking For Them
- Stating the Obvious
- World Fantasy Award Nominees
- Chicken In Every Pot, 2012 Edition
- Dungeon Quest, Book Three by Joe Daly
- Gaining, and Losing, Capital
- The Hollow City by Dan Wells
- Reviewing the Mail: Week of 8/18
- Possessions Book 3: The Better House Trap by Ray F...
- Joel Rafael bränner och smeker
- Pointless Numbers
- Incoming Books: August 14
- It's Writing, Captain, But Not As We Know It
- Reviewing the Mail: Week of 8/11
- Arbete igen - och värdet av tid
- It's Soothing Until the Moment It's Terrifying
- Jerusalem by Guy Delisle
- We're Safe From Skynet for Another Few Months
- They Eat Puppies, Don't They? by Christopher Buckley
- Two Travel Books With Very Little In Common
- Flora's Fury by Ysabeau S. Wilce
- Reviewing the Mail: Week of 8/4
- En sångskatt mästerligt tolkad
- Pogo: The Complete Syndicated Comic Strips, Vol. 1...
- Nested Scrolls by Rudy Rucker
- Incoming Books: August 3-4
- Two Books About Disneyland
- Friends With Boys by Faith Erin Hicks
- Kan vi fördela annorlunda?
- Växtvärk hos Tillväxtverket
- The Great Divergence by Timothy Noah
- Grendel by John Gardner
- Because We All Need It, Sometimes
- Lust by Ellen Forney
- Hide Me Among the Graves by Tim Powers
- Incoming Books: July 31st
- Jerry Garcia skulle fyllt 70 idag
- Ghost Train to the Evening Star by Paul Theroux
- Hey, Gigantic Media Conglomerates!
- Just in Time for Hurricane Season!
- These Dreams of You by Steve Erickson
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