What's in a name?

Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet? Not sure, but I hope they had lots of roses and other flowering bushes around during Love in the Time of Cholera. Every time I hear about or see the title, I snicker and/or despite the fact that it's being touted as this HUGE sweeping romantic saga and one of the greatest love stories ever. Why? Well, due to my work in the medical field, I can't thinking about the definition of cholera.

Cholera: is an acute, diarrheal illness caused by infection of the intestine with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae.

Oh yeah uh huh, diarrhea is just so damn.. sexy.

I realize this is the title of the book and therefore must be the title of the movie because .. it's an Oprah Book Club book. That's right, we can all blame the talk show queen for a medical word for shit being in a movie title. I can hear people thinking now, "Love and shit.. does that mean the relationship is in the toilet.. what?"

However, people are going to see this awkwardly named movie because by golly, if she recommends something they all have to flock to it like mindless sheep to heading for slaughter, or perhaps lemmings jumping off the cliffs of despair to their dooms on the jagged rocks below.

I've looked at her clique-y little list, you know and there aren't any fun books. There's no Harry Potter or Cujo, or even any romances, unless the hero or heroine dies in the end. Oh yeah, I realize that the HEA ain't on her must-reads. Believe me babe, I know a passive pooh-pooh when I see one, I'm a southern woman after all, she don't like romance readers or writers for that matter. Alice Hoffman is the closest she's got, with Here on Earth. Please be advised, while good, your nose will become intimately acquainted with a box of Kleenex during this book.

Now, I'm not knocking the woman (much) I'm scared to, she's got connections, not to mention more money than God. Nor am I downing all those books those authors worked so hard on, most of which are about spiritual growth or overcoming huge obstacles but some of them are just.. fricking boring. Not to mention depressing as hell. A lot of the books on the OBC list should come with a Prozac taped to a book mark as a promo item.

Back to Love in the Time of Cholera.... when the J. Geils Band sang Love Stinks, I really don't think this is what they were talking about.