Earlier this week, we learned that novelist Fay Weldon was paid to plug the jewelry company Bulgari in her new book, “The Bulgari Connection.”
In an agreement believed to be a first for the book industry, the critically acclaimed author of “The Life and Loves of a She-Devil” agreed to mention the upscale jeweler 12 times in exchange for an undisclosed sum. Critics will no doubt find much to ponder in this allegiance between a purveyor of luxury goods and an author known for her defiantly scruffy feminist heroines. But let the naysayers grumble about narrative authenticity and literary integrity. This being America, the real question is, why stop there?
In the spirit of progress, we offer a few product placement suggestions:
– Helen Fielding (“Bridget Jones’s Diary”) . . . Bally’s Total Fitness
– Danielle Steele . . . Kleenex
– Stephen King . . . Ginsu knives
– Stephen E. Ambrose . . . Geritol
– Tom Clancy . . . Boeing
– Sue Grafton (“P is for Peril”) . . . The Letter P
– Bill Clinton (memoirs) . . . Cigar.com
– Anne Tyler . . . The Lifetime Channel
– John Grisham . . . Smith & Wesson
– Laura Hillenbrand (“Seabiscuit”) . . . Alpo
– J. K. Rowling . . . O-Cedar brooms
– Philip Roth . . . Midol
– Anne Rice . . . The Red Cross
– Dominick Dunne . . . Dominick Dunne
