How the new Sally Rooney book became this fall’s hottest accessory
The hottest accessory this season? A copy of the new Sally Rooney book. But what does this must-have accessory say about the exclusivity of “cool” culture online?
Sally Rooney’s fourth novel, Intermezzo, released this September, was the hottest accessory in the literary community — before it even came out.
Rooney’s career as a writer blew up with the pandemic-era TV show adaptation of her novel Normal People, which cemented her name in the zeitgeist as a “harbinger, host, hype machine.” Today, her name has “become a PR buzzword,” Prospect Magazine wrote. The association with Rooney’s name is that you are young, witty, emotionally intuitive, astute and, above all, seemingly indefinably “cool.”
Her latest book has been heavily posted about online, by bookstores advertising pre-release orders, influencers who received an advance copy and news outlets sharing reviews.
Pre-releases (known as “galley copies” in the literary community) were sent to select influencers, publishing magnets and internet “lit” girls prior to the book’s release. Who received a status galley, and why, highlights who was deemed “cool” enough to be seen with a copy prior to the book’s release.
Esquire noted that:
The problem with the status galley is this: With all its hype and early praise from the chosen few who get a copy, the book becomes a token of cultural currency, a status symbol. These books, hot in the hands of celebrities and Internet personalities alike, prove just how susceptible we are to clever marketing, and just how hungry people are to be in the know among the literary elite.
Analyzing Intermezzo’s release through this lens has everything to do with its social capital as an aesthetic piece of iconography, and little to do with the story told in its pages. In the age of Instagram, popular texts are aesthetically packaged as hot commodities using digital marketing strategies, and as such our literary tastes and preferences are heavily influenced by what’s “cool” online. So who defines what’s “cool,” and what does participating in this culture of cool say about us as individual consumers?
What your favourite influencer is reading
What’s considered cool in the literary world is tied into trending aesthetics, pop culture and modern branding.
In recent years, there have been a wave of think pieces investigating why all modern books look the same. And it’s true, with their brightly coloured, blob-esque covers and middling typeface, that many of the books gracing The New York Times bestseller list look relatively similar. Scrolling on #BookTok, I see the same covers over and over, variations of Sally Rooney, Otessa Moshfegh stories recommended by girls who look like me, and I note their recommendations down in the “Want to Read” section of GoodReads. One can look at GoodReads like Instagram, as a reflection of the self through the books selected, rather than pictures posted.
Esquire also highlighted that:
There are currently a staggering 129,000 posts on Instagram with the hashtag “intermezzo”—most of them include stylish shots of the ARC posed on beach towels, tousled bed sheets, and other aesthetically pleasing locales. There are hundreds of TikTok video reviews of the novel, and it has a 4.34 rating on Goodreads ahead of publication, with just over 1,000 ratings.
The aesthetic value of Intermezzo calls into question whether or not its content even matters in this landscape — there are equal parts think pieces (like this blog) on what the book says about how books are marketed today as there are reviews of its (ambitious, emotive) material.
The answer is more complex than a black or white, yes or no — when I read Intermezzo in a trendy bookstore café after placing a pre-order and picking up my hardcover copy in person, I was consumed in the story, losing track of time as I turned the pages. I placed my pre-order through a bookstore on TikTok, advertising the book’s release. I also held the book at its base, angling the cover so it could be seen through the café window. Intermezzo, among other trending books, act as mirrors, reflecting back a vision of ourselves that we want to be seen as: literary, well-read, in touch.
At the forefront of this are cool, internet people who post aesthetic images of the book in aspirational (yet attainable) environments.In this sense, while what’s popular is defined by the masses, and is aesthetically marketed using tactful digital marketing strategies (like sending strategic pre-releases to literary “it” girls who will romantically photograph the cover next to a glass of red at a trendy bar), we, the consumer, also participate in defining what’s cool. We do so through our consumption of trendy media, sharing to our socials as a reflection of a well-read, thoughtful version of ourselves.
Is posting on #BookTok the new selfie?
In an increasingly digital world, when TikTok scrolling has replaced reading a paperback on public transit, possessing a physical copy of a much-hyped book and posting pictures of said book is a way in which we benefit from its marketing campaign, turning the marketed definition of “cool” and applying it to our own personal brands.
I genuinely love Sally Rooney’s writing, having been a fan since I read Conversations with Friends in 2017, and I also enjoy the Real Housewives franchise, and thrift store thrillers, and scrolling on TikTok on the train. Being seen with a copy of Intermezzo only reflects a slice of the reader, and as a chronically online Gen Z girl, it’s a side of me that I want to have seen. My favourite New Yorker writer posted about reading Intermezzo at a dimly lit New York bar: I can get a copy and do that, too. I’m in the cool kids club, the book is my pass.
This isn’t necessarily wrong, or anything deeper than consuming popular media and wanting to be a part of the club, but it does mean that other smaller authors and texts can get lost in the mix — if you don’t know where to look.
The relationship between those who receive a copy of a pre-release and the author is symbiotic: the author benefits from the buzzy hype that pre-release content generates, and the poster benefits from the status that the book lends.
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FAQ
Sally Rooney has been popular since her novel Normal People was adapted into a TV show on BBC, airing during the pandemic to widespread acclaim. The show’s thoughtful depictions of intimacy scenes captured viewers and catapulted Rooney to star-author status.
Intermezzo is a story about two brothers who experience the loss of their father and navigate complex romantic relationships. One of the through-lines of all of Sally Rooney’s work is her exploration of emotional and psychological dynamics in couples dynamics.
Intermezzo was released on Tuesday, September 24th. You can officially pick it up in stores today!
