My name is Inigo Montoya

[jmc_bks]

To borrow Inigo Montoya's line to the Great Vizzini, I do not think that word means what you think it means.

Cult classic: A work of fiction that is extremely popular with a select audience but may or may not be successful at the time of the work's original publication;a film or other media production that has acquired a highly devoted and small but specific fanbase, usually outside the mainstream and without significant commercial success.

Today in my inbox, I found an Amazon ad for "Cult Classics on Kindle". Curious to see what books Amazon defines as cult classics, I opened it and found blurbs for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Android Karenina, and Sense and Sensibility and Seamonsters, among others.

In what way are any of the literature masterpieces and monster mashups cult classics? They've generally been commercial successes and are extremely well-known (and often derided), which would seem to preclude cult classic status. Unless the "classic" label is derived from the original work's classic designation?

Yes, yes, I get that Amazon was going for the alliterative effect with the K sound. But cult classics? I don't think so.

Comments

[why-me-why-not.livejournal.com]

Amazon is pretty ridiculous sometimes.

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

And yet I still spend money there.

[why-me-why-not.livejournal.com]

Me too.

[lyvvie (from livejournal.com)]

Sometimes? I find the reviews set up insane. I think it is time for an ereader though. Kindle good?

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

I really like my Kindle and the Kindle app for my phone. It has reduced my paperbook buying and is very convenient. Sometimes I'm not thrilled with formatting though, since it seems like the publisher didn't update the electronic file being used for print books, which can leave loads of blank space or cause wonky fonts.