Because the story required the photo, that's why

From the Telegraph:

"Fears for the future of the literary novel have been heightened by the revelation that a book by Katie Price, the surgically enhanced model, has outsold the entire Booker Prize shortlist.

Sales for the Man Booker Prize contenders show that the combined efforts of the cream of Britain's literary talent cannot match the appeal of Crystal, by Katie Price, the topless model better known as Jordan."

Right, right. Shocked, we're shocked. Lord, would you just look at th -- um, what was that again? Oh yes, the sales of serious literature. In England. Not being up to hers. This phenomenon seems to be a surprise only to the British. book/daddy's surprise was in not knowing who the hell Katie Price was. Now that he's seen the British knockoff of Pamela Anderson, he's planning on never forgetting her.

She's his new screensaver.

But ah, seriously. Apparently this isn't just some oddball fact-hyped-panicked story for a particularly slow news day ("Amazing! Americans love their worthless soda drinks!"). Or at least, it isn't to the Telegraph. Because that story was accompanied by this one:

"Literary fiction, which might loosely be defined as novels with artistic aspirations, is the poor relation of the publishing industry. Such books may offer publishers respectability but it is genre novels - crime, women's fiction, adventure and historical yarns - that make the money.

Just how few copies of most literary novels are sold was made painfully obvious by the figures for this year's Man Booker shortlist. Martin Amis may have claimed last week that the novel is in rude health but he is only half right. The flow of serious fiction may run unabated, but the readers have dried to a trickle. Where have they all gone?"

So that certainly establishes one thing: These people have definitely been living on some obscure part of Pluto. When -- even in England -- did serious literature outsell romances and genre thrillers? Neither news story gives a definite date for this book-reading Eden, neither story, for that matter, gives much in the way of actual sales figures comparing today's devastating revelations with business-as-usual 10 or 20 years ago.

OK. So maybe the whole deal was just an excuse to run a photo of Katie Price.

Shameless. What kind of low-life, desperate-for-readership literary journalist would do such a thing?

Next up: book/daddy asks Lil' Kim to show us what she wears in bed when she's reading Saul Bellow.