Ssssssensational

On July 28th, a little book called Snakes on a Plane: The Guide to the Internet Ssssssensation will be published. What will it tell us that we don't already know? Well, if I knew that, then I'd already know what I don't know and...

That is too much like a Star Trek style computer-brain destroying paradox. Let me back up before the universe vanishes up its own fundament.

So, there's a book about Snakes. On a plane. The book, which you'd probably expect to be not-much-good-at-all, just a bit of a cash in, actually happens to be written, in fact, by one of the nicest men you could ever hope to meet. David Waldon, trust me, is too sincere to just be milking the hype to no good end. That's him in the picture up there. I'd certainly buy a used car from this man, let alone a book about snakes and planes.

So, instead, before we are deluged with countless pieces of Snake/Plane-themed merchandise with little purpose other than being brandished as badges of geek honour, there's going to be a genuine look at what all this fuss is, where it came from, and how. One of the biggest, best and, frankly, most funny memes in recent memory is getting its own history set in stone, in its lifetime. That's the postmodern world in motion - don't you just love it? Talk about Snakes on a Plane eating their own tails.

Of course, this time next year, the whole brouhaha will have blown over, and we'll need another book (are you listening Mr. Waldon?) to give the first truly fan-bent internet-fed film phenomena a proper autopsy.

I want to know more about this book. Hopefully I'll be able to get an interview with Mr. Waldon. Watch this space.