Ripped from the headlines

Actually, this is not really an accurate title for this post because my beef is with the actual headline, but anyway... As I picked up today's New York Times Arts section for my daily crossword challenge (supposedly it will help ward off senility, but since it seems to have already set in, I'm not sure how that is going to work - maybe it will prevent me from being a drooling vegetable at 40, which is where I feel like I am headed), I stopped dead in my tracks at this offensive headline:

Hyperion Starts Imprint to Help Women Whittle the Book Choices
A publisher focuses on female readers in their 30's and older.

Hey! That's me! Funny, I don't seem to be paralyzed by the book choices out there, nor do I need "help" whittling it down. Reading on in the article, I am informed that it will have an anti-chick lit bent. Again, I don't need help distinguishing chick lit from non-chick lit. Usually it is pretty obvious to me.

The thing is, it seems that I might like a lot of the books that this imprint is putting out. The first will be a book that "argues that women who 'opt out' of careers to raise children forfeit the financial, intellectual, and even medical benefits of working outside the home." No arguments from me here. (Of course, the converse argument is that women who don't stay home miss out on time spent with the kids that they will never get back, but there are plenty of books out there dealing with that topic, so I am glad to see the flip side of the coin.)

Just as I was thinking that the issue was the Times coming up with a stupid headline, the problem resurfaces. "People are overwhelmed by choice, and what they want is someone who is self-selecting for them," [Ms. Dorman, the editor] said.

Nope, lady. I have my three bookclubs, book reviews, bookstore recommendations, and reading blurbs on the books to help me narrow down my choices. The number of choices of books is not the problem. Please stop "helping" me.