I love fake book titles in life is weird: double exposure

Life is Strange: Double Exposure has perfect fake book titles because it follows a principle set forth by one of my favorite tweets.

This pithy thesis of the publishing industry has become authentic in my mind. It perfectly illustrates what I find irritating and artificial about many modern book titles.

If you read much modern literature (or just visit your local library), you know this to be true. A book called All the Colors of the Dark is currently number 12 on the New York Times hardcover fiction bestseller list, which is a pretty small thing we know when we're young. The Housemaid's Secret is number seven on the paperback trade fiction list, and that's definitely Darkest Wife territory.

These naming conventions also bleed over into movies and TV on occasion. 2023's All the Dirt Roads Taste of Salt and All the Light We Cannot See (which is based on the 2014 novel) are both examples of the first type of book mentioned in Elizalde's tweet.

What does a modern book title sound like a modern book title?

There is something indefinable about modern book titles. Writing one is like writing a scene in the voices of characters from Seinfeld (another Twitter pastime). It's hard to describe, but you know it when you hear it. I'm glad Life is Strange: The authors of Double Exposure seem particularly gifted at this subtle art.

In the first two chapters, we are introduced to three writers: Max's best friend, Sophie, who is a poet; Gwen, a nonfiction professor and memoirist; and Lucas, an arrogant bestselling novelist. Gwen and Lucas both have books published, and Sefi has one on the way.

Safi's upcoming poetry collection fits the tweet format perfectly. It's called 'All the Daughters We Don't Talk About'. Lucas bridges the gap between the two types of book titles with 'Wilder Beasts Than Thies'. And Gwen's inclusion in the mold rises a bit higher. It is called 'If the Highway Sude Take Me as a Wife'. These are all great fake book titles. They sound exactly like the books you might find on display at Barnes & Noble, or the breathless stuff on BookTok.

Are Any Life Strange: Double Exposure's Book Titles Any Good?

All headings are going to be concise in depth. Gwen's is the only title that's really any good, though, because it ignores the others' vague self-importance. It's still one small Self-important – What do you think the highway chooses for you? – but reading the title, I know what it probably is.

It sounds like a road memoir. And, when Max reads the first sentence while snooping around Gwen's office, we confirm that's exactly what it is. “I had decided to hitchhike across the country,” reads its opening page. “If I still want to die when I get to the Pacific, I can do it peacefully.”

Lucas is second best. Although the title is somewhat ambiguous, combined with the cover, which features a (narratively significant) decorated bull's skull, we gather that it is a Western, perhaps with a literary bent to it. I give it a pass.

I find Safi's title the most insulting – in a good way. It reminds me of a book I own by Rayne Pryor, daughter of Richard Pryor, called Jokes My Father Never Touched Me. That title always bothered me. Jokes my dad never told me would make sense, because that's how we communicate jokes. “Taught” makes me think of how no one actually teaches jokes, period. All the daughters we don't talk about are the same. It sounds profound at first. And then you think about it and realize how much you talk about your daughter is a strange measure of parenting success. All the daughters we don't care about or all the daughters we ignore or all the daughters we cut from our will, sure. Talk about? eh

whether i Like Titles or not, they're perfect for what they are: believable titles of books I don't actually need to read. They fill the world and show that the authors of Deck Nine understand the rhythm of the modern book title very well.