A Smart Canucks post, “Do we take multiculturalism for granted here in Canada?” (warning: a NSFW image is first thing in that post) alerted me to this seemingly surreal book, a recently published exposé by former Wall Street money manager J.C. Davies, I Got the Fever. Her credentials to write this book include, according to her bio, an undergraduate degree in psychology, a masters degree in public health, and 20 years of dating men of different cultures*. The book purports to cover from her own experiences and interviews with women in interracial relationships with, well, the ethnicities depicted on the book cover**: black, Hispanic, Asian, Indian, and Jewish.
Of course the blog post, being open to comments, had a high volume of comments starting with, in my opinion, a couple of commenters who made the blog a platform to talk about themselves, their dating preferences, and sound really ignorant; this is in contrast to the discussion the blog author tried–but really couldn’t expect–to start. But asking if multiculturalism is “being taking for granted” is a cynical and leading question–you’d think the right answer was the affirmative one but that implies we forget to appreciate multiculturalism.
In any case, this post is about the book that I’m so not on the ball to not have heard about since its February 2011 release until now! You’d think I didn’t have a perfectly nice NPY and all because the cover dazzles me with all that toned flesh! I guess it is a luridly interesting question: what is the dating experience like with men from different ethnicities and culture? Stereotypes and jokes abound and seem to get addressed. I watched half of the terrible book trailer and am disheartened if the book is as one-dimensional and pandering as the short video implies. Perhaps it was just not a well-devised marketing strategy.
Because of the embarrassing cover (and equally embarrassing sleeves to hide book covers), I would only buy this as a Kindle book. Because of the trailer, and my skepticism of its treatment of the issue, I would only buy the Kindle version on deep discount or not buy it at all.
I really didn’t want to judge a book by its cover but this one does spur me on so.
* This reminds me of a recent conversation with a girlfriend with a psych background. An advanced psych degree, preferably a PhD, seems to confer the authority required to author and publish many a non-fiction/self-help book. Also I’m currently reading a book on Asian Studies written by a retired psychology prof–firstly, retirement is a great time to pursue other intellectual passions, and then, the doctorate gives a title that just keeps on giving, even when you switch fields!
** This links to a big, high-resolution book cover image released on J.C. Davies’ website to media re-use. The images of torso flesh positively glow and I would say it is Not Safe For Work (NSFW).
