Is anyone else still recovering from the tidal wave of actors-turned-singers that ruined a little bit of the ’80s for us? Big names like Don Johnson, Bruce Willis, Eddie Murphy, and Patrick Swayze made us all cringe a little by releasing albums, which is somehow not the same thing as a singer like Harry Connick, Jr. or Madonna turning to acting.
In reality, entertainers have a long, proud history of exploring other forms of artistic expression after making it big in one field. Morgan Freeman, Jon Bon Jovi, Paul Newman, and others have made ventures into the food or restaurant industries. Many actors have gotten their old garage bands back together, and James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, and Jim Carrey all have wide reputations as artists.
But books? More importantly, Keanu Reeves and books? Why not… Despite pop culture jokes about the actor’s early career–specifically some of the quasi-literate characters he played as a younger actor–Reeves and his business partner have launched a publishing imprint that is anything but vapid or even pop culture-centric.
According to Vulture, “Among the rarer and more arcane tomes published by Reeves and his business partner, artist Alexandra Grant, is the recently released ‘(Zus),’ a visual essay by French photographer Benoît Fougeirol that is apparently ‘structured around the 11 “Zones urbaines sensibles” of Paris’s banlieues that presents the Brutalist peripheries as a failure of both the state and imagination.’”
That’s a pretty far cry from Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (and the rumored sequel starring both original stars that had better be real and not just an internet hoax), but Reeves himself has grown as a person and an artist since those days. More outlets producing more books–no matter how “esoteric,” according to one source–is always a good thing for readers.
Mercy Pilkington is a Senior Editor for Good e-Reader. She is also the CEO and founder of a hybrid publishing and consulting company.
