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El Chapo and Me

2016-07-26 · letter vlog · John · 2:24 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Books & writing · mode: Personal update · tags: timely hook, community lore

John reports a Washington Post article saying imprisoned drug lord El Chapo has read Paper Towns, jokes about what he made of it, and, noting that over 97% of Americans haven't read his books and almost 30% of adults read none, asks viewers how they came to read his books.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Greeting; like Alice's Doc McStuffins Lego, the video comes in only one part

  • ★ John says today's video is like Alice's Doc McStuffins Lego: it comes in only one part. (playful) — 00:00:01 · Alice Green

00:00:07 — The Washington Post El Chapo story: prison conditions and the two books he read, one being Paper Towns

  • ★★ A couple of weeks ago John's mother-in-law texted him to read the El Chapo story in the Washington Post. — 00:00:10
  • ★★ John says El Chapo is the imprisoned alleged leader of the Sinaloa cartel, per the Post the world's most notorious drug lord, known for ruthlessness and daring prison escapes. — 00:00:15
  • ★★ The article reports El Chapo's lawyer's concerns: he may watch only one hour of TV a day and, in 65 days in Juarez prison, had only two intimate visits. — 00:00:36
  • ★★★ The article says El Chapo has read two books in prison: a Spanish novel, El Final del Ave Fenix, and John's Paper Towns. — 00:00:53 · Paper Towns

00:01:04 — What Paper Towns is about, and John's mock questions about El Chapo's reading

  • ★★★ John argues Paper Towns isn't so much a love story as a story of learning that romanticizing someone isn't the same as loving them. — 00:01:04 · Paper Towns

    “isn't so much a love story as a learning that romanticizing someone isn't the same thing as loving them story”

  • ★ John has many questions: did El Chapo like it, how was the Spanish translation, did he ship Ben and Radar, does he now imagine Santa more complexly. (playful) — 00:01:22

  • ★★★ John's biggest question is how a book he wrote eight years ago ended up in a prison in Juarez, Mexico, and so how anyone ever found his books. — 00:01:31 · Paper Towns

00:01:38 — How anyone finds his books: over 97% of Americans haven't read one; reading as countercultural

  • ★★★ John says his books are far more widely read than he imagined, yet more than 97% of Americans haven't read one, so his readers are a relatively small club. — 00:01:45 · Paper Towns
  • ★★★ John says reading any book is now almost a countercultural activity. — 00:01:57
  • ★★★ John cites a recent survey finding almost 30% of American adults read no books in the last year. — 00:02:00

00:02:05 — Ask: how did you come to read his books; inspiration for his new story; sign-off

  • ★★★ John asks Nerdfighters who have read one of his books to share in comments how they came to it, or any story of a book reaching them unexpectedly. — 00:02:05 · Nerdfighteria
  • ★★ John hopes to use the answers as inspiration in the coming months as he works on his new story. (hedged) — 00:02:15

Humor (significant)

  • Paper Towns is about a larger-than-life character who enjoys well-plotted escapes and lacks empathy — 00:01:14

    “so maybe he found it relatable?”

  • John wonders what the imprisoned drug lord made of the novel's characters — 00:01:22

    “Did he ship Ben and Radar?”

  • John says his readers are still a relatively small club, Hank — 00:01:52

    “you, a few other people, EL CHAPO”

Threads in this video

Mentioned

Central: Joaquin Guzman · Paper Towns

Also: People: Alice Green

Works: Doc McStuffins · El final del Ave Fenix

Organizations: Sinaloa Cartel · The Washington Post

Concepts: romantic love

Places: Ciudad Juarez · Mexico

Characters: Ben Starling · Margo Roth Spiegelman · Radar

Products: Lego

Myths: Santa Claus

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