Says the college dropout: “I am not a fan of books. I would never want a book’s autograph. I am a proud non-reader of books.” Also: Kanye’s authored a new book and would like you to buy it! It’s full of “Kanye-isms.” Read up at Reuters.
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what a fucking idiot
I concur. Kanye West is a dumb nigga.
I think I would enjoy watching Kanye die.
Another reason not to like the guy
Great message to be sending to the black community
maybe he should go to the nba’s ‘read to achieve’ program. great example kanye is setting for young african-american kids.
what an idiot… he’s the worst thing to happen to hip hip since mtv
Is it April 1st?
For a man who is otherwise so unabashedly gushy over everything about his mother, you think he’d honor the fact that she was an English professor.
What a douche.
he has lent me a new motto: “Life is 5% what happens and 95% how you react!” thank you, kanye
I would never want a a books’s autograph either. Primarily because they’re physical objects lack the sense of self importance and ability to write that are prerequisites for having an autograph.
Someone make one of those library posters w/ Kanye: “READING IS NOT FUNDAMENTAL”
He’s making it impossible to defend him. I give.
i can relate to this sentiment. somewhat.
Yea, it sucks. Used to really like the guys and he’s done so many dope things in the past, but that was some of the most ignorant shit I’ve read in a while. Still, his blog remains one of my dailies.
I LOVED Picture Pages too…
I am not a fan of Kanye. I would never want his autograph. I am a proud non-listener of Kanye.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlKL_EpnSp8&feature=related
I knew that “feud” was a fraud. Kanye and Stephen Colbert clearly have so much in common!
Maybe if he read a little bit, learned a little vocabulary, his rhymes would not be so wack!!!
Looking at his lyrics, I never would’ve guess he doesn’t read…
Wow, so he doesn’t like reading. Why is everyone so offended? Are your parents books or something? Reading is boring. Some people don’t like being bored. Get over it.
to say you are not a fan of books is no big deal, but to be in the public eye and say you are a proud non reader it promotes not reading. Why would you want to promote that.
He doesn’t read, so why would he say that he does? Its not like reading makes you smart anyways. Most recreational readers I know read trashy murder mystery or fantasy novels that probably reduce their intelligence more than sharpen it.
You mean “it’s” not “its” as in “it is not like reading… etc, etc”. If you read books you might know that.
Really? You’re going with the “omg ur blog comment is not perfect grammar u r stoopid” thing? Okay, you got me.
For the record, there are several grammatical errors in your trite response.
Hey grammar police… the only reason we have the English language (or any language) is because the breaking of grammatical rules (or the complete lack thereof) allowed for spoken languages to distort and evolve generation after generation. Thats why we don’t speak straight Latin or some Germanic dialect. If you read a book, or got off your high horse, YOU might know THAT… biatche.
I kinda agree, but I will also add liberal-art and philosophy majors who read Camus and Kafka… because they aren’t much better… mostly because they only read The Stranger and The Trial so they can name-drop at a later date.
However, reading non-fiction (like anything in the science section of your local library or bookstore) is extremely important. Exhibit A: Kanye West actually thinks there is a transient being known as Jesus who saved him from dying in a car crash only to keep him alive long enough to die at some predestined future date. Makes sense… not. Lesson: read a fucking book.
Lets not turn this into a theological discussion. Second paragraph was pretty irrelevant.
I bet a lot of people got those ideas about this “Jesus” guy by reading a book …
…Because in a democracy you have a moral obligation to be intelligent.
Reading and intelligence are not connected. Intelligence has to do mainly with critical reasoning one’s ability to understand information and apply it. You’re telling me that reading a Harry Potter novel affects these traits in ANY way? Because it doesn’t.
That is absolutely not true. I can say that the only reason I know anything about anything is because I read as a child. Not only does it actually give you information it also heightens your skills of memory and reasoning. Tsk tsk.
I’m just laughing at the fact soulja boy commenter unironcally agrees with ye about the lameness of reading.
Man, so far you’ve cited the pop equivalent of books.
Trashy romance novels? Fucking harry fucking potter?
God damn, read some Samuel Beckett or Thomas Pynchon or Stanley Donwood, son.
Some existentialist postmodernism might just make your snappy retorts even snappier.
What, exactly, is postmodern existentialism good for? I mean, besides mastering the art of acting like a prick. Outside of those books, the ideas they present are pretty fucking worthless.
Thanks for backing up your response with evidence. I finally understand the connection, or lack thereof, between reading and intelligence. You are an educational pioneer!
Two people. One reader and one non-reader. All other things/factors equal. You’re saying that the reader would have no discernable intellectual advantage over the non-reader — even if it’s just a slightly increased vocabularly or comfort/fluidity with language? Because that’s what you’re ultimately implying. I’m sure there are studies on this that would objectively settle the argument, but that would require reading a book/journal — and who wants to do that?
It seems to me that on the very lowest level, a greater understanding of language and how it works will improve your “understanding of information” and ability to “reason critically” — the prerequisites for intelligence that you mention. After all, the more precise you are with your language, the more you’re able to make yourself understood. A good example of a failure of this kind is Kanye, himself, saying, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” — a statement that stemmed as much from the frusterations of inarticulateness, as his frusterations with the government response and the Republican party; Kanye wanted to say something else (that much is pretty fucking obvious), but found himself bound to his own inability to articulate his concerns in a thoughtful, intelligible manner. What came out, as a result, was just weird.
Clearly some people don’t like being intelligent either.
My father is a book! 21 years of various surgeries, and I can finally walk! My mother should never have had sex with a book, but you know, God works in mysterious ways. It was the Bible. Did I forget to mention that? I am a half Bible-half human. You never heard about me? It was only on FOXnews.
how can any artist be successful without interest in literature? If you turn down reading you, turn down intellect….I refuse to believe this, hopefully he’s just trying to get reactions. If not, that’s truly unfortunate, Kanye.
‘So does he fancy himself a modern-day Confucius?
“I’m trying to end the confusion,” he said, laughing and adding, “I’m gonna put that on the next album.”‘
Wow.
so he still likes fish sticks in his mouth?
Books are too wordy? Thats like saying I dont like music, its too notey.
I’m a motherfucking wordsmith lyrical genius! I don’t need no fucking books to tell me how to use words!
Hey kids look at me. Im proud to perpetuate the stereotype that the only way to get out of the ghetto is Hip-Hop or Basketball
“Believe in my flyness and conquer my shyness.”
Lulz.
This explains.. SO much..
I do not find this surprising.
Who wouldn’t want a book’s autograph?
Is this the reason why he rhymes the same word over and over again in his songs?
Wait until his dad Cornel hears about this.
I’ve ordered you a wheelbarrow full of up votes.
“I am a proud non-reader of books. I like to get information from doing stuff like actually talking to people and living real life,”
I would like a book’s autograph.
Anyone think he might just be trying to be ironic? He’s a “rapper” that targets affluent white hipsters. A group primarily known for its use of sarcasm and irony. I mean, he intentionally wrote a book that’s only 52 pages long, which contains blank pages and as few words as possible. The few words that are in there are platitudes so vapid that even someone with his ego has to realize how vapid they are. He then promotes the book by talking about how much he hates reading, tossing off lines about not respecting books because he can’t get their autograph. There’s no way he’s being serious. It’s either some bizarre stab at surrealist art ala Joaquin Phoenix or he’s just taking a piss out of his audience, seeing what he can get away with while still making money.
I am fully convinced that Kanye West does not understand what irony is. You’re giving him far too much credit.
I think you’re giving Kanye West too much credit. The only thing we can give Kanye credit for is his prowess with computer programs that allow him to produce hip-hop. Kanye’s public comments for the entirety of his career, including his infantile lyricism, are both testaments to his illiteracy. To guess that there is irony in his adoption of the icons of the rich (Louis Vuitton) or his offhand praise of the universally demonized (O.J. Simpson) is a stretch. The real conclusion here is that Kanye adores the spotlight, revels in attention, and, like a child, will say whatever he needs to keep that attention. I will go so far as to say that Kanye knows he’s being “outrageous”, but it’s not the master plan of an insightful artist, it’s the cry of an attention whore.
I agree, but I find his ignorance, hypocrisy and general outrageousness entertaining. In the way I find trashy TV shows like “The OC” entertaining. I can’t even honestly say I think his heart’s in the right place. Maybe he’ll say some things that make me think that, like “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” or calling out his former homophobia as well as his peers’, but then he comes out with crap like “O.J. Simpson, amazing. Chris Brown, amazing” and is generally extremely disrespectful to women (except his mama ? but with crap like this, he doesn’t even seem to be respecting her legacy as a college English teacher and his pledge to go back to school to make her proud of him).
I think calling it subversive could be a nice defense for him to use if he were to catch a ton of criticism for the book or the reading comment. But I don’t know, he really seems this self-absorbed. I hope he shrinkwraps this book. I can’t imagine anybody thumbing through a 52-pager with single sentence pages and taking it up to the counter.
you’re right, there is absolutely no correlation between reading and intelligence. our world would be absolutely the same without it. its not like marx or locke changed our world in anyway. its not like hemingway influence our dialect and our culture. its not like kerouac and ginsberg changed the way youth in this country is portrayed and they certainly didn’t influence musicians like bob dylan and the beatles. reading has absolutely nothing to do with intelligence. o and i guess your not going to read this, because then you would be kind of a hypocrite right? do yourself a favor and read something substantial, unlike your examples of murder mysteries and harry potter. o and the next time you think to write on a internet board, try to think about how you may sound like a fucking idiot before writing. read kids, always.
baby steps Kanye. start with some Dr Seuss
One Fish, Gayfish, perhaps?
I haven’t read a book since high school, and I’m perfectly intelligent. I’d like to know how many of you have read a book recently–I’m betting not too many of you. Books are the exact same thing as movies, music, video games, television, etc. They are all different forms of entertainment.
And there IS no correlation between reading books and intelligence. Just because a person doesn’t have the time or patience to read through pages and pages of text doesn’t mean he doesn’t know how to read.
Now, I’m not saying that I believe Kanye West is an intelligent person in any way, but these ideas that people can’t be intelligent without reading books is ridiculous. I know several people who read books quite often who are, in fact, complete morons.
Errr, let’s see. I just finished “HIstory of God”, and am starting “Collapse: How Societies Choose to Succeed or Fail”, and next I’m going to pick up Dawkins’s “The Ancestor’s Tale”. And I’ve been out of college for about six years, so choke on that, you douchebag.
For…
West, a college dropout, said being a non-reader was helpful when he wrote his book because it gave him “a childlike purity.”
Read…
West, someone who lacked the intelligence and motivation to complete college, said that lacking intelligence and motivation was helpful when he approved his ghost “writer’s” cheap imitation of a book because he couldn’t understand how shit it was.
The people who are saying that reading is overrated are partially right. Just because someone reads, that doesn’t mean they’re intelligent. If you read a Harry Potter novel or other trash like The Da Vinci Code or Twilight, then no, you’re probably not going to be gaining anything from that. And that’s what the vast majority of the world WANTS to read. It’s comparable to watching an action movie or listening to say Kanye West. It’s not challenging to the average person. It’s mindless entertainment. So bringing up names like Hawthorne or Ginsberg is a moot point because if you ask the average person who they are, they won’t know (and probably haven’t read). Bring up J.K. Stallings or Stephen King and yeah, I’m sure they’ll gush over how intellectual they are for reading those books Which I think in a way has crippled our culture (at least in America). Because now just by saying you read, it automatically allows people to think they’re a little more intelligent than if they’d pick up a real book by a real author like a Blood Meridian or a Naked Lunch instead of the pap they’d normally associate with.
That’s why I have problems with organizations that want to get people reading and then do so by using populist garbage. Most people don’t go beyond the surface when you do that. So yeah, a few kids who read Harry Potter might get turned on to stuff like Lovecraft or Tolkein by association but the vast majority will just continue to mindlessly gobble up that one series and neglect everything else around them. I’m pretty sure this is the only reason the Twilight series exists. It’s a terrible grocery store romance novel wrapped in the trappings of a vampire mythos that exploits our culture’s mindlessness in the same way Anne Rice did before it. If anyone can produce anything intellectual about that series of books then by all means do so. I’m really quite saddened by it.
So yes, reading can be a bad thing, too.
I think there is a lot more depth to harry potter than you give it credit for.
AGREED. (Not sarcastic.)
so yeah, you’re a total fucking retard.
really, man, harry potter is a lot more profound and beautiful than you think. have you read it? it is a children’s novel, but as a fan, as someone who grew up on it, i’m deeply offended that you would couple it up with twilight or the davinci code. twilight especially, i agree, is trash.
and sorry, this is digressing, but i felt the need to defend my first literary love. just because it’s fantasy and directed at children doesn’t mean it’s lousy.
Kids reading “pap” is better than kids not reading at all.
I meant to say JK Rowling. I don’t know where I got the other name from. But yeah, same point.
You spell it S-T-U-P-I-D-I-T-Y…
That sure explains a lot. But then again gay fish don’t read do they?
My Music Blog: http://www.ronaldsays.com
My Music Twitter: http://twitter.com/ronaldsays
I didn’t realize he was an actual idiot until now. What a moron, the only reason I’m not furious and can tolerate him is because I just laughed until I cried reading that.
“Sometimes people write novels and they just be so wordy and so self-absorbed,”
I don’t understand why Kanye needed to write a book. He’s already wordy and self-absorbed.
http://bonafidewithheadphones.blogspot.com/
I think Kanye went off the deep end a loonnnnngggggg time ago. It’s just now people have figured it out and want to get some of those nutty quotes we all love to read…errr wait…reading sucks.
Anyone who is “proud” to be a non-reader is not worth listening to.
Re: “reading doesn’t make you any smarter”.
Reading, and being exposed to virtually any stimuli does indeed alter how one responds to the environment, and ultimately can influence how the brain develops through neuroplasticity.
Children of parents who have low levels of education are typically exposed to a vocabulary that is tens of thousands of words more limited than children of parents who have higher levels of education, which is one reason for the common academic limitations of children who grow up in environments where most people they encounter have very low levels of education.
Reading a book exposes you to different words placed in novel context, which in turn helps you to learn to recognize a wider variety of patterns in language and in other areas of the environment.
If you want to make statements that suggest that reading isn’t important, at least get an education in developmental science first so you can know whether or not your statement is valid or total b.s. (of course, getting that education would require reading)
I’m pretty sure its understood we are talking about adults reading recreationally. Obviously children need to learn to read, but thanks for clearing that up just in case there was someone in here promoting illiteracy (there wasn’t).
three words: attention deficit disorder.
well done, stereogum. you’ve successfully instigated a word-battle between the pretentious and the ignorant. who will win? nobody, i think.
I’d opt for pretentious because your comment has garnered so many positive votes. Zing!
Thanks everyone! I was looking for a reason to give up on life. You people have given me the gift for which I have been wanting. I hope no one bothers to read my obituary because it’s going to be a waste of time. Like this argument.
Also, ask anyone who has ever taught english if there is such thing as “bad reading” and you’re likely to get slapped. Reading even “stupid books” (Twilight, Dan Brown, The Bible) stimulates your brain in a way that can’t be rivaled by simply not reading. Reading might not not signal a level of intelligence, but it certainly helps build a level of comprehension which is essential in building intelligence. Oh fuck it, just go smoke some weed or snort some adderal and listen to your fucking Kanye and do everything in your power to educate yourself by being a purposefully ignorant human waste.
For every word that this discussion has incited, Kanye West has made another dollar.
What’s the Mark Twain quote? “There’s no difference between those who don’t read and can’t” Something like that.
THIS IS SOME ERNEST HEMINGWAY’S SHIT!!!!!!!!
I am bono and I approve this post.
Wow. Only one person understood the point I was making about recreational reading. The likelihood that someone will be exposed to new ideas or words in populist literature is slim given that they’re already navigating in that shallow field of ideas to begin with, where the authors aren’t offering anything to challenge the reader. The fact that people took my comment as promoting illiteracy is kind of fucking hilarious given that I pretty outright stated people should be seeking out more challenging works. I’ll give a concession on kids reading Harry Potter, although I’ve known a few who would only read that series and read nothing else when it first started getting popular.
But regardless of whether or not they stimulate the brain, have you tried talking to someone about Twilight or the Da Vinci Code? It’s a fucking void of intelligence. Most won’t even do the basic research to realize that Dan Brown is a fucking fiction writer, instead thinking his books are non-fiction. But then maybe my perception is shaded with bias because I’ve actually heard people argue that before.
i was gonna call Colbert-like stunt, but Colbert produced a feat of American proportions with his book. kanye produced a waste of plant life.
i wish he would print them on those “glasses” he popularized. one kanye-ism per specs. i would feel better thinking not as many people are buying the shades nowadays. plus his thoughts would be scattered about, making it hard to cohesively pull together so that one mind could not process all of the “thoughts.”
Reading is fundamental. Be cool stay in in school.
Clearly the man is an idiot. I feel sorry for him; he is missing out on a whole lot.
Its akin to those fuckheads who dont like music. I mean, really?? Are you fucking deaf?
Maybe he’s dyslexic or something. Maybe those stupid sunglasses with the lines have fucked up his vision.
re “Reading even “stupid books” (Twilight, Dan Brown, The Bible)…”
I might be able to get on board with calling Twilight, DaVinci, etc, a “stupid book” (haven’t read, don’t know), but regardless of your personal feelings about the Bible and Christianity and Christ, it’s more than slightly reductionistic to call it a “stupid book.” Two thousand years of Western Civilization (not to mention British and much American literature, or, say, the Dutch Renaissance, or Martin Luther King, Jr, or Thomas Merton, or David Foster Wallace, or any other number of people who’ve shaped the way things are, whether they believe in what the Bible has to say or not) would argue otherwise.
Anyway, yeah, Kanye’s ridiculous, but Lil Wayne was saying the same thing a few months ago in Esquire. (I think his exact quote was something along the lines of “I don’t believe anything that’s been written down,” which, presumably the interviewer wrote down and showed Weezy).
It’s also troubling to say that it’s the reading of non-fiction that truly shapes the mind. While it certainly does massage the intellect, non-fiction can’t service the mystery-driven, non-rational parts of the brain the way that fiction can. And if you don’t believe in the goodness of mystery or the truth of non-rationalism, what are you doing on a music blog?
Though I will defend fiction to the death, I have to say that I disagree with your assessment of nonfiction. Truth is honestly stranger than fiction; all fiction is ultimately inspired by truth. Non-fiction can “service the mystery-driven, non-rational parts of the brain” just as easily as fiction.
Yeah, that’s a good point. I concede, though I still defend fiction.
I can sympathize with this. Maybe if there was a program that made reading easier, like the way that Songsmith makes songwriting easier, I could get into it more… and have that book report on glow in the dark towels done by 6!
i just spent 10 minutes reading these posts and Kanye was right!
(Kanye was not right)
I find it so ironic that a college professor raised what could arguably be the most retarded person in the world. I don’t know how he has the nerve to say such things and dedicate his so-called book to his mother. That is the equivalent of defecating on someone’s grave. On another note, I would like to tell the idiot who said that reading a Harry Potter book makes no difference in intelligence level, you’re quite wrong. Being exposed to British English, I learned new words and my imagination was greatly stimulated, prompting me to seek out more books to read of that genre, not to mention that my report cards became gold mines. This applies to all books, and anyone who says that reading isn’t fundamental is as much an ignorant douchebag as Kanye is.
stop saying amazing, it’s not amazing, not amazing, so not amazing, songs not amazing, dude you’re not amazing, shit ain’t amazing, not amazing, not amazing, not amazing
even in the amazon and in the bush, there are more and more multi-lingual tribes-people with mds, masters and phds.
and they should make a geico commercial with kanye.
It’s a shame. Some of of life’s greatest pleasures and lessons come from sitting down on a grassy knoll on Sunday afternoons and digging into a good book. Don’t get me wrong, I love to play Nazi Zombies online for eight hours straight as much as the next person, but books are cool too.
ew…
What a douchebag. Anyone remember that interview where he was saying he’s the next Curt Kobain, the next Jim Morrison?? Well if he is indeed the black Kobain/Morrison then fucking die already!
lmao… yes we should start a movement… Kayne just die already!
i love it
kanye is lame and wordy if you ask me. someone hit him with a truck already.
Books > Kanye West
Kanye’s main audience are a bunch of 15 year olds. Nobody expects anything mature or smart from him. he’s a big loser. Probably the reason why Radiohead turn him down and Miley Cyrus. It’s pretty sad when someone puts you down to the level of Miley Cyrus.
best thread ever
reading and intelligence are not the same, and books works as good a good movie, opera, poem, even a comic book, BUT all these forms of art start interact with the written word in some moment or another
The Godfather II would have never been filmed if there wasn’t a written novel BEFORE
Why does anyone still like Kanye West? He’s a fucking idiot.
What a fucking Idioit!
I THINK HE IS REALLY AWESOME AND YOU GUYS ARE JUST HATERS AND I DON’T MIND LETTING YOU KNOW IN THE SAME TYPEFACE AS HIS RIDICULOUS BLOG WHICH YOU HAVE TO READ. Oh. Oops.
How come every time Ryan Adams or Courtney Love says something stupid, there isn’t an explosion of comments calling them an embarrassment to the white race, setting such a bad example for little white kids. Yeah, Kanye’s a moron, but why make it racial?
kanye is just trying to perpetuate his career, if people start reading, they would eventually realize kanye has nothing substantial to offer.
Facts: Kanye West is incredible for making this statement, reading probably makes you smarter but isn’t the only way to do it, movies are way more fun than books, knowing bookfag stuff does not necessarily improve one’s quality of life, bookfags should try skateboarding because it rules more than books, you guys are taking an article on stereogum really seriously and it rules, i am contributing. In conclusion, have sex with people instead of reading books.
people who read books are idiots and will never have sex with good looking people
Seriously. Are you 15 or something? You couldn’t possibly that much of an ignoramus.
Look….. I just hate the motherfucker because he has more money than me. I’m sitting here thinking how i’m gonna pay off 100K in school debt off while this piece of shit takes a dump on a sampler, calls it music, and packages it and sell’s millions of copies. Fuck this guy! Yes, he deserves to be famous the same way Paris Hilton is famous. By being a douchebag. I want to throw rocks at him! He’s responsible for all the “bros” who now think its okay to wear pink polo shirts with the collar up. I dont even know what the point of my post is, its just fun to rip on this prick.
books make you uglier. most people i know who read a lot of books are uglier than most other people.
The Godfather Part II WASN’T a novel. It was a script written in a collaborative effort by Mario Puzo and Coppola.
Though, I get your larger point, and it’s a good one.
Nobody said The Godfather II was a novel. It was, however, based off of a novel: The Godfather, which covered the basic plot of the DeNiro half of the second movie. That there was a screenplay in addition is as irrelevant in the case of Godfather II as it is for Godfather.
As for the commenter’s point, it’s absurd. Just because some forms are adapted from the written word, that doesn’t mean they all are. Music is the obvious example for the subject matter. No one’s presented in argument for why reading and writing, as opposed to other activities for which intelligence is important, are superior uses of one’s limited time.
“I wouldnt get a book’s authograph???” That has to be the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard…
“I would never want a book’s autograph”
What is he talking about? Does he mean he doesn’t want the page of a book that has the autograph? Or does he think a book signs itself and gives itself an autograph?
I never ask books for autographs either.
“I wouldnt get a book’s authograph???” That has to be the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard…
” I wouldn’t want a book’s autograph” is the dumbest thing I have ever heard.
” I wouldn’t want a book’s autograph” is the dumbest thing I have ever heard.
Reading is a lifesaver- I truly believe it takes the crimes off the streets. Even if it’s a daily newspaper or comic books- anything that gets you unplugged and in a really concentrated state is a skill that must be honed from childhood so as not to end up a dropout. Kanye’s story is unique in that he turned his schoolaphobia into mega-stardom, but the reality of dropouts is a retail job or worse. Re: Harry Potter, Twilight, &c. We all have different tastes in books and guilty of reading mass-market paperbacks with the raised, embossed lettering, but the act of reading boosts grades, self-esteem and in turn, quality of life. We’re not in the 1900s anymore where education was optional for working in the fields or factory. Mainstream society get educated and they start with books, any kind. Golly, even the other rappers on MTV Cribs had libraries- what’s Kanye filling his mansion with- just his ego? I think he needs a fresh start by signing up for a Chicago Public Library card (does he still live here?) -it is the best library where I discovered so many gems. I know this statement is just another crack at the college-educated who bury their noses with books on the L and stuff, but for real, I hope he enrolls in Kendall College someday and gets some dang closure already. Then again, Harvard College might award him an honorary degree the way they do any celebrity of no merit. 50 albums from now he’ll be gloating that he got his “Degree Fo’ Free, Suckaz” Take that, Sallie Mae!
I think we should all get together and form a book group, am I right?
this is embarrassing. good rap artists read to improve their lyrics. guess kw uses tv to grow his mind grapes.
Okay, I already thought Kanye was a douchebag, and I will continue to do so. But I’m fairly certain that his idiotic comment about books was at least partially motivated (if not entirely so) by a desire to get people talking about him and his own book. It’s a publicity stunt. Kanye may be an ass, but he’s not THAT stupid.
Okay, I already thought Kanye was a douchebag, and I will continue to do so. But I’m fairly certain that his idiotic comment about books was at least partially motivated (if not entirely so) by a desire to get people talking about him and his own book. It’s a publicity stunt. Kanye may be an ass, but he’s not THAT stupid.
dumbass fucktard
This analogy is lame. Asking for a book’s autograph would be like asking for a song’s autograph. None of us want the autograph of an inanimate object. If he read, he would be more aware of his ridiculous and fallacious comparison.
He surfs the net, but he does not read?
This is not surprising but infuriating none the less. I think it is great that by doing this he is just highlighting the fact that it’s all about money and not creating art. This book is another way of filching money from his loyal fans.
Wow, Kanye. Thanks for helping me cease to give a fuck about you and your projects.
What a wonderful example for today’s youth he is setting……..NOT!
you know ive just finished reading a book yesterday a 467 page book by a japanese guy named haruki murakami, and you know you can learn much about a life from a book, i guess all of you went to school and had to read books to abstract the information on it and be able to reproduce that information in the form of answering math problems or even forming an opinion about things in the world.
You can learn anything from any type of books even the da vinci code, maybe many people who have not heard about who was leonardo da vinci or what he did and why he is important, now thanks to that book maybe somebody learned about this important person in history. Whats wrong if you read harry potter, you’ll gain a better vocabulary and learn how to better express yourself, let your imagination work and maybe it will inspire you to do something just because its about wizards does not make it dumb, i think its a better form of entertainment than “the hills” or “john and kate plus 8″. And books aren’t only fiction, imagine if there weren’t any medical books for doctors to study from or any engineering books to learn from, where would the world be!
Reading is sublime, its the most wonderful thing in the world, it separates us from animals, people like kanye west are horrible and if he doesn’t like to read i bet than more than one illiterate person in the world would be more that happy to be able to take his pesky reading ability away.
By the way if those who are in defense of not reading (god that’s the saddest and stupidest opinion one could have) you are writing about how pointless it is to read therefore making your point absurd, absurdity being one of the main topics abridged by albert camus (he writes books and is one of those useless post modernist existentialist),maybe if you read him you’d gain more insight in how the world works.
the libraries of the future will simply have a kanye auto-tuner and a non auto-tuner section.
books are dumb, just look what they did for obama…
this has gotten ridic
Hey all. Just wanted to let you know that Kanye never actually said it. It was simply a ploy by North Korea to defame one of America’s greatest sons. Don’t you all look silly for the in-fighting now? P.S. If you can read this, thank a t.v. P.P.S. Proud Parent of a child who beats up your honor student P.P.P.S. Books are like legs: the more you open them, the more chances…wait….books are like legs: the more you open them, the more reasons…no wait a second…this was a good one……. oh yah, mein kampf was a book, but so was huckleberry finn. Coincidence?? I THINK NOT.
As a master teacher of language, I would like it to be made aware that speaking skills come before reading and writing. I recently read a study done by the New York times on the effect of illiteracy as the root cause of poverty. Now I do not normally like to rely solely on research to prove a point, but this statement is profound.
It?s that the most decisive weapons in the war on poverty aren?t transfer payments but education, education, education. For at-risk households, that starts with social workers making visits to encourage such basic practices as talking to children. One study found that a child of professionals (disproportionately white) has heard about 30 million words spoken by age 3; a black child raised on welfare has heard only 10 million words, leaving that child at a disadvantage in school.
Enough said.
Maybe if Kanye would read a book it might be a start for his education. He might even like it. Oh by the way Kanye “Good job” at the MTV vma you dumb A..
YOU ARE PRETTY FUCKING WORTHLESS.
What good is a prick that types in all caps as a reflection of his oversized ego? Outside of his blog, he’s pretty fucking worthless aside from blah blah blah oh my god, who gives a fuck anymore?
This one gets labeled “to each their motherfucking own.”
again… I agree that Postmodern Existentialism is pretty fucking worthless, unless you like to wear berets and wax your mustache. However, you claim that readers have no discernible leg-up over non-readers… and that is downright retarded. Obviously, you think your pretty smart… and you probably don’t read much… so you’ve concluded that not reading hasn’t made you any less intelligent that the average person. The problem with that conclusion is that the average person is a non-reader, so you are only smarter than the average non-reader. Fact is, those of us who are naturally smart and also READ actually have more facts and knowledge in our brains, which means we are more capable of informed and educated thoughts… and that means ’smarter’.
I don’t think there is any “debate”… there are things called ‘facts’, and things called ‘myths’. You may choose to believe what you wish, just realize that one is reality and one is not. Reading non-fiction helps us to learn how we can decipher what is what… and that was the second paragraph’s purpose… so no, it wasn’t “pretty irrelevant”.
If you kids were really bright you would notice the real issue is this:
How can a person be so self absorbed to claim the problem lies with books themselves.
He didn’t say, “I don’t read because I don’t have time” or “I don’t read because I’m an audio guy and can’t get exited by the written word”
Instead, he puts the blame on books. As though books need to do something to earn his respect.
Its funny, broad generalizations about a medium shouldn’t be taken seriously from someone who is admittedly unfamiliar with the medium.
What about HAVING IDEAS ABOUT THE WORLD? What about that?
Dave, you may want to make a distinction between “facts” and “myths,” but modernism with its illusion of objectivity and progress is as much a myth as anything else. Science too is a metanarrative, even though it pretends not to be one, with its own a priori assumptions and self-delusions.
Which, of course, doesn’t make it bad, just human.
But his comment isn’t ’spoken language’ now, is it?